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:c«='vv.,'' 



UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA. 



BRYANT GRAY: 



THE STUDENT, THE CHRISTIAN, 
THE SOLDIER. 



BY 



JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D. D., 

;( 

PASTOR OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE CHURCH, 



FEW YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH, 

No. 770 Broadway, cob. Nintei^ St. 

1864. 




V 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, 

By Anson D. F. Eandolph, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States 
for the Southern District of New York, 



11^^ 



EDWARD 0. JENKINS, 

^rtnttr & Stercotsper, 

No. 20 North William St. 



TO 

THE LIFE-LONG ADVOCATE OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN, 

Tliis Memorial 

OF ONE WHO BOKE HIS NAME TO THE FIELD 
IN DEFENSE OP THOSE EIGHTS, 

IS BK8PECTPTJXLY 

INSCEIBED. 



I. 



0f 1S60, 



"you will vote for 'Honest Abe,' of 

-*- course ;" I said, to a young friend 
who stood directly in front of me in the 
poll-line, on the eventful 6th of November, 
1860. 

He had come to cast his maiden-vote, and 
as he was a frequent attendant upon my 
ministry, I felt a paternal interest in the 
opening of his citizen-life. 

" What ! Not vote for Mr. Lincoln !" I 
exclaimed, as half-blushing, half-laughing, 
he shook his head in the negative ; " what 
can you mean ? No man must go amiss 
or hang back, to-day." 

"I start for Texas, to-morrow," he an- 

(5) 



6 BRYANT GRAY. 

swered, " for health and business ; and if I 
am ever to come back alive, I had better be 
able to say that I did n't vote for Mr. Lin- 
coln ; so I shall go the State Republican 
ticket, and not vote for President at all." 

Was he then a coward ? I must confess 
that, at the moment, I pitied him for lack 
of decision ; little thinking what elements 
of courage and patriotism lay dormant in 
his mild, blue eyes, and what manly daring 
would yet be exhibited by this lithe, deli- 
cate boy, in fighting down the treason 
against which he hesitated to cast a ballot. 

This little incident gives the condensed 
history of an epoch that now seems a by- 
gone century ; when, in thirteen States of 
the Union, a social terrorism, as arbitrary as 
the " Bomba '' rule in Naples, compelled men 
to speak with 'bated breath of human rights 
and liberty, and made torture or the gibbet 
the penalty of an opinion or a vote looking 
toward the deliverance of the enslaved. 
Should slavery as an organic system survive 
the war, not all the blood of our brave 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860. 7 

defenders can wipe out that hideous des- 
potism from the land ; for slavery creates 
and demands such terrorism as its own 
defense. We must obliterate slavery, or 
we lose the whole cost and pains of the 
war. We must fight until the country is 
made free, in every part of it, to each and 
every citizen. We must fight until in Rich- 
mond, in Charleston, in Montgomery, one 
can say, " I voted for Abraham Lincoln in 
I860," as unconcernedly as he can speak of 
the weather-table in an old almanac. 

My young friend soon learned that his 
enforced abstinence from voting would not 
save his credit with, men who were bent 
upon the destruction of their country. Be- 
fore winter was over, he found that he could 
remain in Texas only upon condition of 
forswearing the Union, and of taking up 
arms against it. Then, all his manhood 
showed itself. The instant secession was 
determined upon by the Convention of the 
State, he set his face northward, with a spirit 
that his journal clearly shows. 



8 BRYANT GEAY. 

^^ April 4, 1861. — I took my last view 
of San Antonio, sad, but yet happy that I 
am leaving such insecurity, lawlessness, and 
secession rabbles behind me." 

At Mobile, on the 12th of April, he re- 
ceived the intelligence of the attack on 
Fort Sumter. " At this news Mobile was 
thrown into great excitement ; the majority 
of the people seemed glad, but many were 
sad. As for me, I too clearly foresaw the 
civil war which was to follow. As the 
wires conveyed the news to every part of 
the country, the sleeping North rose up 
against the perfidious South ; the first ball 
from Fort Moultrie was the signal for the 
clash of arms. Alas for my country ! God 
help Freedom /" 

On reaching Washington, after many 
perils, he writes (April 18th) : " All through 
the night I heard the clatter of cavalry in 
the streets, the note of preparation for the 
contest. Eouse my countrymen ! To arms ! 
God be with us !" 

The baptism of Freedom was upon him. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF I860. 9 

He had escaped out of Egypt. He who five 
months before had hesitated to cast a vote 
against the threats of the South, was now 
eager to confront her armies with the 
sword. Conscience, patriotism, and religion 
made Bryant Gray a hero. 




11. 



TTE bore an honored name. His father, 
-*--'- gifted with tastes above his early 
opportunities for their improvement, had re- 
deemed from the drudgery of apprentice- 
ship in a village store many an hour for 
commuuion with Nature, and with poets who 
were her best interpreters. The poems of 
Bryant had especially fascinated him, not 
only by their fidelity to Nature, but by that 
inward purity and sincerity of soul which 
they unconsciously unveil. The young shop- 
keeper made this then new volume of poetry 
the companion of his walks in the woods 
and fields of his native Dutchess ; com- 
mitted every line of it to memory ; and in 

(10) 



TEE WOftTE OF A GOOD NAME. \\ 

the fervor of his admiration, vowed that 
should he ever have a son, he would name 
him Bryant, and would train him for a cul- 
ture that he himself had been denied. Years 
after, when a clerk in New York, his first- 
born came as the redemption of this pledge, 
and William Cullen Bryant Gray linked 
the name of the first American poet to a 
surname already honored in English litera- 
ture. It would almost seem that by some 
subtle poetic affinity without natural kin, 
the name of Gray had conveyed to this 
child the pensive and reflective tempera- 
ment of the author of the Elegy, and that 
his epitaph was anticipated a century ago — • 

" A youtli to fortune and to fame unknown ; 

Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth, 
And Melancholy marked him for her own." 

The announcement of his baptismal name 
to Mr. Bryant, brought the following re- 
sponse to his father : 



12 BRYANT GRAY. 

" New Yokk, May 15, 1841. 

" Sir — I should have answered your let- 
ter before this, but I put it off from day to 
day, until I could go to my publishers for a 
copy of my poems; which I send you, and 
which you will oblige me by keeping for 
your son until he is able to read it. I can- 
not be insensible to the compliment you have 
paid me in giving him my name, inasmuch 
as it shows the sincerity of the favorable 
opinion you are pleased to express of me. 
I must enjoin upon you, however, to direct 
his attention to better models of conduct 
than his namesake. Meantime, present my 
compliments to the little gentleman, who I 
hope, will do more honor to the name of 
Bryant than I have ever done. 

*' I am, sir, respectfully yours, 

" WM. C. BRYANT." 

Such a gift from such a source would be- 
come a talisman to the imagination of any 
^ child as soon as he should be capable of 
understanding its significance ; but to a boy, 



TEE WORTH OF A GOOD NAME. 13 

whose nervous organization proved as deli- 
cate and sensitive as a girl's ; who, from his 
earliest consciousness, seemed to shrink 
within himself, shunning the common sports 
of boyhood, making few companions on the 
street, but courting the society of books, 
this volume of poems, imprinted with his 
own Christian name, was the magic key that 
unlocked to his soul all the wealth of Na- 
ture, and that opened within himself the 
deeper mysteries of life. His father lost 
no opportunity of fostering the associations 
of Bryant's christening gift, and the love 
of the beautiful and beneficent in Nature 
which it was fitted to inspire. In his own 
relaxation from city toils, he w^ould spend 
the long summer days in the woods and by 
the streams, making this child the compan- 
ion of his rambles, reading to him such 
poems as he could comprehend, and teach- 
ing him to know and love all that was beau- 
tiful in earth, air, and sky. 

When the boy was about five years old, 
his father read to him, on a soft summer day 



14 BRYANT GRAY. 

in the woods, Bryant's " Lines on Revisiting 
the Country," in which the poet describes 
the effect of natural scenery upon his own 
child in " her fourth bright year :" 

" For I have tauglit her, with delighted eye, 
To gaze upon the mountains— to behold, 

"With deep affection, the pure, ample sky, 
And clouds along its blue abysses rolled ; 

To love the song of waters, and to hear 

The melody of winds with charmed ear." 

The boy listened " with delighted eye '' 
to every word, assenting, by nods and by 
audible signs, to each line as it was ex- 
plained to him, until the last two were re- 
cited ; then he shook his head alternately, 
" Yes " and " No." " The Song of Waters/' 
said he, " that's just so. I love to hear it, 
too ; but the other part is n't right. The 
wind does n't niake melody ; the wind is 
sadJ^ The pensive element in his soul re- 
sponded to the sighing and wailing of the 
wind among the trees. Yet, at that early 
age, he would kindle witli enthusiasm at the 



THE WORTH OF A GOOD NAME. 15 

sight of beauty. At six, his father topk 
him to the highest peak of the Catskill, and 
when the marvellous glory of valley and 
river and mountain lay spread before his 
view, asked him what he thought of the 
prospect. Bryant stood awhile wrapped in 
meditation, then slowly answered, " It looks 
to me like our Saviour's temptation on the 
mountain !" So well were the Gray and 
the Bryant blended in his pensive, yet ap- 
preciative and admiring soul. 




III. 



jM Piji ii iM §0M. 



A GOOD religious training gave a true 
-^ direction to tins thoughtful and sus- 
ceptible child. His father, though not then 
professing godliness, rightly appreciated a 
Christian education, and, by precept and 
example, taught Bryant to practice virtue 
and to respect religion ; his mother, a de- 
vout member of a Baptist church, conse- 
crated him to the service of the Saviour. 
In early childhood he was always deeply 
moved by the story of the cross, and he 
would often repeat to the younger children, 
in subdued and tender tones, what he had 
learned at Sabbath-school of the love of 
Jesus and the glory of heaven. He grew 

(16) 



THE MAN IN THE BOY. 17 

up in the habit of reverence and with a 
love for holy things. 

A tender and gentle spirit seemed in har- 
mony with the pale face and the frail form 
of his childhood ; and perhaps his own deli- 
cate constitution made him more quick to 
sympathize with the weak and suffering. 
When a little boy, he once sat up all night 
nursing a " baby-pigeon ;" he would press 
the tiny thing to his breast, and as it seemed 
to lose vitality, he would wrap it carefully 
in cotton and lay it before the lire, in the 
hope of warming it into life. He never 
outgrew this sympathetic habit ; but as he 
grew older it became a law of considerate 
kindness toward the neglected and the 
wronged. When a youth of fourteen, in 
the Free Academy, he came one day to his 
father with this case for advice : 

" There 's a little Irish boy in my class," 
said he, '' who is very poor, and whose dress 
is very shabby. His mother is a washer- 
woman. The boys all despise him. When 
we walk two and two from the recitation- 
2^ 



18 BRYANT GRAY. 

room to the chapel, nobody will take his 
arm ; and when we are out at })lay, nobody 
will give him a chance. And yet he is a 
good boy, and the best mathematician in 
the class. I have been thinking that I 
onght to take care of him, and to be his 
friend. What do you think about it, 
father ?" 

His father told him that if he was willing 
to part with a suit of his own clothes, he 
might give it to the boy, and that he could 
do as he pleased about associating with him. 
Having equipped his protege, Bryant took 
him under his wing, walked with him arm 
in arm, took his part on the play-ground, 
and fostered him like an elder brother. He 
had good reason afterward to be proud of 
the youth whom he thus befriended. 

But tenderness and gentleness were not 
the whole of Bryant's character. He could 
show pluck when the occasion called for it. 
A lazy classmate, having to declaim an 
original piece, applied to Bryant, who ex- 
celled in writing, for a composition, for 



THE MAN IN TEE BOY. 19 

which he gave him a pecuniary cQpsidera- 
tion.* But as the orator flourished upon 
the stage, the class recognized the style of 
his piece, and it was whispered all about, 
" He couldn't write that ; that is Bryant 
Gray's. " 

When this reached the ear of the speaker, 
he went to young Gray in a rage, accused 
him of having betrayed him, and threatened 
to flog him. Bryant was a mere stripling 
by the side of his accuser, but looking him 
calmly in the eye, he said, " I have not told 
any one your secret. '^ 

" You lie, you young scoundrel," retorted 
the other, making ready to follow his words 
with blows. 

Bryant drew up to his full height and 
said, "I warn you, that if you touch me, you 
will do it at your peril ; for T will not stop 
till I get through with you. You are nothing 

* Had Bryant been more mature in judgment and in 
Christian principle, neither love nor money could have 
made him a party to an imposition upon his teacher. 
But school-boys are not apt to be perfect in that di- 
rection 



20 BRYANT GRAY. 

but a big coward." At this unexpected 
show of pluck, the bully slunk away. Bry- 
ant had already the germ of the true 
soldier. 

His amiable and manly qualities needed 
but the refining touch of grace to make 
him a good soldier of Christ ; and in the 
great revival of 1857 the needful consecra- 
tion came. Subdued with the sense of his 
sinfulness, attracted by the sweet influences 
of the Cross, which, from his childhood, had 
so touched his heart, he openly avowed the 
Saviour as his portion, and joined himself 
to the communion of the saints in the Seventh 
Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. 



lY. 



WxmtU mt& WmUs* 



TN the opening of 1855, when Bryant was 
^ only in his fourteenth year,^ his father 
withdrew him awhile from the Free Acad- 
emy, and in the hope of recruiting his con- 
stitution, took him to San Antonio, Texas, 
and there left him in the family of a rela- 
tive. The boy's letters home give us 
glimpses of his simple, healthful tastes ; of 
his affectionate disposition, and his ardent 
piety. 

" I hope you are improving in pausic," he 
writes to a sister, " for when I return, I in- 
tend to learn the flute or violin, and accom- 
pany you. * Oh I that will be joyful, to meet 

* He was born September 15, 1839. 

(21) 



y 



22 BRYANT GRAY. 

to part no more.' So you must learn duets, 
and be prepared for me, for I can learn 
very quickly to play. You know my en- 
thusiastic love of music, and that I can 

hardly live without it. Mary V was a 

splendid player ; I wish you were here to see 
her music — songs of all kinds ; but she is 
gone now, and her earthly songs are heard 
no more ; her Maker hears her heavenly 
songs, which are far more glorious ! Please 
loarn to play well, for you know what enjoy- 
ment we can have. Do it for my sake, if 
not for your own benefit. Music is more 
food to me than bread ; and when I hear 
good, pure melodies, I feel as if lifted above 
this earth, and my thoughts involuntarily 
turn to mother, who now sings and hears 
the most perfect music."* 

To his father he gives some sage and 
earnest, yet, withal, modest counsel, to ema- 
nate from a youth of thirteen : 

" What is the use of your working, think- 
ing, plodding your way through New York 

* His mother had recently died. 



TRAVELS AND TASTES. 23 

BO much, I cannot see. Are you poor and 
obliged to work ? No. Have you not 
enough for your future wants ? Yes. Why, 
then, do you do it? It is a false notion 
that a man must continue to work all his 
life till death obliges him to quit. I ask 
you. What is the object of life ? Why are 
we here on earth ? To make money ? No I 
but to serve our Creator, and to add one more 
to the galaxy of stars that surround him. 
Better, then, instead of alivays making 
wealth our goal, to retire and pass the de- 
cline of life in happiness, and the contem- 
plation of its continuance when we die. 
Do not think that I am a preacher or soph- 
ist ; but think of it ; for what I say is as 
plain as the nose on your face. I might say 
more, but this is sufficient, I think, and I 
fear I may trespass on the obedience I owe 
to you. But for your children's sake, do 
not work so hard — they need you yet ; and 
by so doing, there is every prospect of your 
living twenty years more." 

His free out-door life in Texas, favored 



24 BRYANT GRAY. 

his physical improvement, without relaxing 
his fondness for study. 

" I ride early in the morning, then I teach 
Willie until 12 o'clock ; I then read until 
4 or 5, when we again ride until evening. 
After supper we retire early. I am just as 
much of a maniac for fresh air now as your- 
self. I have changed my mode of living 
en tirely. I don't see how I will stand going 
to school after this. The open prairies are 
hardly wide enough for me ; my thoughts 
are more expansive ; I am more restless 
now than before. After riding and running 
about at will, as I have done, and am doing, 
I can hardly submit to being bound down 
by strict rules and discipline ; but ' where 
there is a will, there is a way,' and as I have 
the will to study and be educated, the way 
will soon be found. 

" Uncle J reposes entire confidence in 

me in every thing, almost too much, I am 
afraid ; but I will try and merit it. He trusts 
me to drive aunt and Willie out to ride, which 
is a great trust for me ; as you know, if any 



TRAVELS AND TASTES. 25 

accident should happen, I would be to blame, 
and could nevei^ forgive myself. He trusts 
me to manage the garden, and a great many 
business affairs at the house and store, and 
he talks and reasons with me as if I was as 
old as himself. This is a very good thing 
for me, as I have a great fault, namely, a 
lack of confidence in myself ; but with his 
training and instruction it may be mended." 
In May, 1855, by invitation of Major 
Neiglibors, Indian agent, young Gray visited 
the Camanches upon their reservation near 
Fort Belknap, and was inducted into the 
wild freedom of nature. Besides its direct 
influence in invigorating his constitution, 
this expedition gave him a taste for camp- 
life, and for " roughing it" in tlie open air, 
which, in after years, made him quite at 
home in the experiences of a Virginia cam- 
paign. He used his pen also to advantage, 
describing Indian life with a sprightliness 
and ease worthy of Bayard Taylor. Sev- 
eral of his letters, written when he was 
not yet fourteen, were published in the 
3 



26 BRYANT GRAY. 

New York Evening Post. In one of these 
occurs a graphic description of his journey 
from San Antonio to the fort : 

" As soon as we had gone our day's jour- 
ney — which we always planned the day 
• before — we selected a place to encamp, on 
a creek, or near a spring, and under a tree 
if we could. Then the mules were turned 
loose and staked ; tliat is, tied to a bush or 
stake with a long rope, so that they could 
eat grass and not get away. A fire was 
then made of wood, picked up around, and 
the coffee put on to boil. Bacon was sliced 
and fried ; and then, if we wanted bread, 
some meal was mixed up in a pan with a 
little water and salt, and baked (this is the 
recipe for the ' Corn Dodger'). This whole 
process, after stopping, did not occupy more 
than twenty minutes ; then we pitched into 
it, and ate it in five. 

" Taking our blankets out of the wagon, 
we laid one down on a buiFalo skin, and 
wrapped the other around us ; then, with 
our saddles for a pillow, were soon in a 



TRAVELS AND TASTES. ^ 27 

sound sleep. The heavens were our canopy, 
and often have I lain awake, thinking of 
my far-off home and friends, and gazing at 
some bright star, where I fancied I saw my 
mother, who, although far away, appeared 
to be near and watching tenderly over me. 
Then was the time I thought of home, and 
knew its value. 

" My meals, while here, I take in a cabin, 
where all the hands eat, and such eating 
you never saw, or will see. The table-cloth 
is as black as the ground now, and will be 
put on for a week yet. All we have is 
fried bacon, beef and coffee, and bread, reg- 
ularly every meal ; just the same thing one 
day after another, the whole year round." 

He writes from Fort Belknap, July 6, 
1855: 

" To-morrow I am going to the Reserve. 
I always go by a trail made by the In- 
dians, which is the shortest way. A trail 
is merely a path formed by horses. It is 
not generally much wider than this sheet, 
up and down. It does not try to avoid 



28 n BRYANT GRAY. 

mountains and rivers, but goes right over 
them. This one goes over three mountains 
and two creeks. You ought to see the way 
it crosses. It does not turn round a big 
rock, but goes right over. I have to make 
my young pony go over several about as 
high as our basement table. The difficulty 
consists in its being steep, and tlie horse 
likely to slip. I go up and down bluffs that 
you would think only a circus-rider could 
mount ; and when a river is swollen, we do 
not wait for a boat, but plunge in and swim 
over safely. I have gone over this trail 
during the night, when I could not see any 
thing at all. I had to let my pony go him- 
self, scent the track, which I could not see 
any more than if I was blind. Once it 
rained, and it was very dark ; the thunder 
gave deafening peals, and the lightning-flash 
occasionally revealed me the road. In the 
interval, silence reigned, and I was awe- 
struck with the grandeur of the scene. My 
good horse sped onward, and I reached 
my tent just in time to avoid the rain. It 



TRAVELS AND TASTES. 29 

was not stretched well, and there I lay all 
night, the water trickling down on my face, 
in my ears, and on my feet ; it rained tre- 
mendously. However, the exposure is bene- 
ficial, making me robust and healthy. I do 
not mind now lying out doors in a drench- 
ing rain. It does not hurt me at all. I 
can undergo exposure and do do things 
which I thought impossible before. I can 
hardly describe them with a pen, but will 
reserve them to tell on my return, when 
they will be much more interesting." 

This was an excellent, though an uncon- 
scious preparation for his subsequent life in 
the army. 

In his eagerness for adventure, Bryant 
begged the privilege of accompanying the 
Agent to a General Council at Clear-Fork, 
to meet Catemse, the chief of the Caraanches. 
Here, after two days' deliberations, both 
parties united in smoking the pipe of peace. 
Writing of this visit, Bryant says : 

" As we expect to have some difficulty 
with the Camanches, unless thev will settle 
3* 



30 BRYANT GRAY. 

and be content, one of the commanders, with 
about twenty soldiers, will go up with us. 
Major Neighbors was afraid to let me go, 
but I persuaded him, assuring him that I 
was not afraid. I do not wish to stay here 
without any excitement. If they kill me, 
that will be the end of my adventures ; and 
if they capture me, well and good, for I am 
in love with their life, they are so happy 
and contented — eating when they can, hunt- 
ting, and lying down when exhausted. They 
are always on horseback, and that, you 

know, is my greatest amusement 

The women work in the fields, hoe, and 
so forth ; but the men will soon be made to 
work, imitating the white man's example. 
They will soon raise their own stock and 
vegetables, and will then be able to buy 
their own luxuries. When this is accom- 
plished, the United States will cease to 
supply them, and will consider them as 
citizens, if they wish to become such. This 
will be a great triumph for civilization to 
accomplish over the savage. It is a much 



TRAVELS AND TASTES. %\ 

better expedient than war, and will cost 
less. They seem to like living in this way 
better than being wild. They consider us 
wonders ; and when we tell them about our 
railroads, and the like, they say we tell 
strange stories — lies ! 

" It is in cpntemplation to bring on some 
of their chiefs, and show them the fruits of 
civilization, arts, and science.^' 

His passion for savage life, however, was 
not lasting. Indeed, his rough campaign- 
ing, and some minor responsibilities that 
were brought upon him in the Agency, led 
him to set a higher value upon a liberal 
education. 

" I have now," he writes, . " a chance to 
detect faults in my education, and I am 
finding and mending every day. They con- 
sist principally in having theories and not 
practice ; however, I now have to practice 
every thing I know, and all my powers of 
self-government, etc., are called out daily. 
It is the best place in the world for me 
here, in that regard ; for I have to shift 



32 BRYANT GRAY. 

entirely for myself, besides having the con- 
trol of this Reserve, which is my business 
for the present. I feel entirely different ; 
not like a boy, but as a man. The Indians 
here call me Captain, and show me much 
respect ; also, the Americans residing here 
call me Mr. and Sir ; so you see I am rising 
in the world. My simple mode of living 
(pork, beef, coffee, and corn bread invariably) 
is giving me health, and, at the rate I am 
now improving, six months will entirely 
renovate my constitution. I am very fleshy, 
and my cheeks are quite red. Major N. 
says he never ^aw any body improve so fast. 
He also thinks six months will do me. As 
to experience and a knowledge of the In- 
dians, that time will make me as familiar as 
a year would, for I am already perfectly 
acquainted with their customs. So you see, 

if Professor W will receive me in the 

fall, I will have attained all the objects of 
the trip, and I can return to the Academy 
without hurting me at all, in health or 
knowledge. I am very anxious to complete 



TRAVELS AND TASTES. 33 

my education there. It would make a com- 
plete revolution in my prospects for the 
future to be rejected from it, although, as 
I said, I am now willing to enter life on my 
own hook. I am becoming quite an Indian ; 
all the men here call me the little " Injun," 
for I shoot nearly as well as they." 

He had reason afterward to modify his 
admiration for the Indian character ; for he 
writes from San Antonio, October 10, 1855 : 

" It really seems as if we out here are 
living over again the life of the first settlers 
of Texas. The same scenes are enacted ; 
families are being murdered by the relent- 
less savage, whole farms are laid desolate 
and waste, and hardly a day passes but we 
hear of such a one being killed, horses being 
stolen, etc. » 

" Of course, the inhabitants protect them- 
selves as much as possible : nearly every 
man who has a son able to fight has sent 
him out. These men have banded together, 
and have either stationed themselves at 
some^ point frequented by Indians, or are 



34 BRYANT GRAY. 

scouring the country. In this way some 
few savages have been killed, and horses re- 
covered from them. But the savage is bent 
on revenge, and he has it. Just as certainly 
as one savage is killed, his death is revenged 
by the inhuman butchering and slaughtering 
of five innocent women and children. The 
details of some of these murders are hor- 
rible 

" If I was not away from home so far, I 
would certainly join a company and go out. 
My indignation has been aroused, and my 
patriotism called upon, and at this moment 
I am willing to sacrifice my life for the 
country. This is not bravery, when you are 
all safe in the house ; but I mean what I say, 
and if I had the chance, I would carry it 
out." 

A vein of pleasantry crops out occasion- 
ally in his home letters, as in this : 

" As to letting you decide my marriage 
(if ever) for me, I don't know about it. 
'Agreeable girl,' just suits me. ' Old man 
worth a quarter of a million ; palace on Fifth 



TRAVELS AND TASTES. 35 

Avenue ; cottage on Hudson :' all right, as 
to my temporal interests ; but as to my spir- 
itual needs, how is it ? However, I shall 
consider it, on my return." 

More characteristic of him is the thought- 
ful religious turn tliat appears in the fol- 
lowing : 

" You are pleased to know that I think 
often of my mother. Truly, then, you will 
often be pleased ; for she is, and shall always 
be, thought of by me. I was her first-born 
and your first hope. May I ever think of 
her who is no more, and honor him who yet 
lives ! What a glorious thought ! My 
mother is an angel ! and angels are with 
God ! We were never worthy of her when 
on earth, and are we now ? Who can tell ? 
Ask your conscience ; it says. No ! You say 
I will be to-morrow ; but ' no man knoweth 
the hour when the Son of man cometh !' 
Could you bear the idea that your lost one 
was in heaven, and you an outcast ?" 

Only the most earnest, filial, and Chris- 
tian love could promote a lad of fifteen to 
such fidelity of appeal. 



36 BRYANT GRAY. 

'^ Before you receive tins, Christmas and 
New-Year's will have passed, and the rec- 
ords of the doings of men for a year will 
be recorded in the Book of Life. Now is 
the time for new resolves ; for new hopes, 
and new actions, victories or failures ! 
How much I miss the family circle at this 
time ; every thing seems dreary. My bark 
of life is tossed on the troubled waters of 
despair, and the anchor of hope alone can 
keep it from wrecking. But there is a good 
time coming !" 

We do not look to a youth of fourteen 
for very profound or sagacious speculations 
upon public affairs, but the tone of Bryant^s 
mind, both as a thinker and as a patriot, 
strikes one pleasantly and hopefully in some 
brief extracts from letters written early in 
1856. Speaking of British demands, he 
says ; 

" Although I am one that would not wish 
that the strong and kindred ties that bind 
us together should be broken, still I think 
that tlie honor of our country should be 



TBAVELS AND TASTES. 37 

maintained at all hazards. I am no half 
American, nor a Know-Nothing, but I am 
a true Democrat, as you always wished me 
to be. England has of late been very im- 
perious and haughty toward us, and as a 
Young American, my blood boils, and my 
' dander has rizj at their indignities. 

*• What has led her to act thus openly, I 
cannot say, unless it be that she supposes 
she has France for a permanent ally ; but I 
say, although I may be advancing a bold 
idea, that Louis Napoleon has not the good 
of England nearest his heart, and that, at • 
the right time, he will be as anxious fer her 
overthrow as any body." 

Our hot-blooded young patriot has withal 
a touch of the antiquarian in his composi- 
tion : 

" It is natural for the American to think 
very little of his forefathers, and because of 
this, their history is lost. I have no such 
feelings. I reverence every thing ancient, 
and consider it an heir-loom never to be 
disposed of. The old cradle up stairs, in 
4 



38 BRYANT GRAY. 

which three generations were rocked, is in- 
valuable to me, and if possible, shall be pre- 
served as long as I live. I have long con- 
ceived the idea of collecting our family 
relic?, and . also of writing the history of 
mother's family. Aunt wants to know 
where the knee-breeches and buckles are 
that your father wore when a boy. You 
must not think that I am an old fogy, or that 
I adhere to ancient customs. I am only 
against the disuse of family relics, and the 
loss of family history." 



V. 



^ 



•pETUROTNG from Texas, in 1857, he 



n 



resumed his studies at the Academy, 



where he distinguished himself in general 
literature, and in the French and Spanish 
languages. He had early shown a decided 
bent for literary composition, though his 
name restrained him from the customary 
folly of youthful poetizing — for he resolved 
that he would not tempt the Muses until he 
could feel sure of producing something wor- 
thy of the name of Bryant. His descriptive 
powers were excellent, and his imagination 
found play in romantic sketches for weekly 
newspapers and the lighter class of maga- 
zines, 

(39) 



40 BRYANT GRAY. 

In July, 1860, at the age of twenty, he 
graduated at the Free Academy, with the 
honor of an oration at the Commencement. 
His theme was "The Decline of Poesy." 
He lamented that " Utility is now worshiped 
with such devotion that the temple of Nature 
is deserted," that imagination is losing the 
vigor of earlier and simpler times, and the 
nobler style of poetry is slowly but surely 
declining; His theme was less suited to a 
popular assembly than to a literary club ; 
but he acquitted himself with credit as an 
orator. His appearance on the stage in the 
Academy of Music, is quite graphically de- 
scribed from his own subjective point of 
view : 

" Such a large and brilliant assemblage I 
have hardly seen even there. The whole 
scene was one calculated to excite the fortu- 
nate speakers to the highest degree of hap- 
piness. I occupied myself with my marshal's 
duties, and conversing with friends, until 
10 o'clock, when my turn came to speak. 
Not without trepidation did I bow to that 



HIS LITER AEY BENT. 41 

larg^ audience, and to the distinguished men 
on the stage behind. But, when once started, 
I went on well. I saw nothing but a con- 
fused mass of faces and gas-lights, for I 
thought only of my words and gestures. 
Six minutes of such pleasurable bliss as I 
never before experienced, and my oration 
was done. Some dozen bouquets followed 
me off the stage. I expected to be nervous 
and confused ; but, on the contrary, such a 
vast audience to address, and such an im- 
mense building to speak in, seemed to give 
me courage. I spoke in a high tone, and 
my friends said they heard me well. My 
speech being smooth and polished, rather 
than noisy and political, did not excite much 
applause, but I was satisfied with the oppor- 
tunity to speak, and used my best endeavors 
to do well. Never having spoken in public 
before, I, of course, did not acquit myself as 
well as the others." 

What a beautiful commingling have we 
here of youthful enthusiasm with Christian 
modesty. He had already learned to " look 
4* 



42 BRYANT GRAY. 

not upon his own things" with a selfish van- 
ity, but to look kindly upon the things of 
others ; not to think of himself more highly 
than he ought to think, but to think soberly, 
according to the measure that he had re- 
ceived from God. 

Bryant's habits as a student were ex- 
tremely methodical. He was systematic in 
his reading, and he kept all his own literary 
productions filed and registered with the 
accuracy of a man of business. He was ac- 
customed to note personal incidents and 
passing thoughts in a pocket memorandum- 
book, and afterward to write out with care 
such as he deemed worthy of preservation. 
This practice he continued while in Texas 
and in the army, and among his effects are 
several of these little penciled journals, all 
carefully numbered and labeled. He was 
equally exact in his cash accounts. 

A creditable volume might be made up of 
his contributions to the press. A good si)eci- 
men of his powers as an imaginative writer, 
is the story of the romantic parentage of 



mS LITERARY BENT. 43 

Thomas- a-Becket, published in the N^w York 
3Iercury, under the title of "The Emir^s 
Daughter." 

He -mastered the French and the Spanish 
languages, and addressed himself earnestly 
to a high literary culture. His taste in art 
was refined. He became an adept upon the 
violin, and both sketched and painted with 
skill. His letters and journals were fre- 
quently illustrated by his pencil, and had he 
lived to measure his true genius, he might 
have made his mark either in literature or 
in art. But he was destined to perform a 
higher work than pen or pencil could exe- 
cute, and to exalt a self-sacrificing patriot- 
ism above the pleasures of literature and 
the rewards of genius. 




VI. 



izn. 



T^HE development of his religious charac- 
-^ ter kept pace with his intellectual 
growth. And he was so much a child of 
the heart, that his knowledge of religious 
truth seemed to be imbibed through the 
affections and emotions, rather than acquired 
by mental application. His faith was largely 
the belief of the heart — the objective real- 
ity becoming palpable through his own in- 
ward experience. Yet it was an intelligent 
faith, as calm and settled as it was earnest 
and fervid. 

To the eye of others, especially of those 
who knew him intimately, he seemed scru- 
pulously observant of religious duties, and 

(44) 



GROWTH AS A CHRIS TIAK 45 

his letters show how deeply his mind was 
pervaded with the religious spirit. The 
tone of his piety was remarkably free and 
joyous. Writing to a friend who was labor- 
ing under despondency, he says : " I believe, 
as you know, that religion is not all sober- 
sided ; but that you may rationally enjoy 
the pleasant things of life, and use them as 
a means of social enjoyment and physical 
^ profit. Only pray that you may be kept 
from evil companions and temptation, and 
all is right. Don't believe that you must 
be so sedate ; for, if you do, you will lose all 
the influence you might otherwise have over 
children to turn them to the right. I^ot- 
withstanding what you say, I believe that 
you have experienced the Christianas love 
for God more than I ; and, in fact, the ex- 
pressing that feeling of doubt may be a 
strong proof of it. Those who affirm most 
loudly that they are blessed and converted 
are sometimes deceived. Don't for a mo- 
ment doubt that you are converted ; for 
that would be repaying God but poorly for 
5 



46 BRYANT GRAY. 

His mercies ; but do your best to show that 
you are, and to keep your vows to the 
Church. I hope that we shall have a good 
season of spiritual enjoyment when we re- 
turn, and try to help each other ; and I also 
pray that the coming winter may behold all 
of our family enjoying the sweets of a Sa- 
viour's love.'' 

After his graduation, the state of his 
health led him again to seek a Southern 
climate, and to enter for awhile upon active 
business before devoting himself to special 
studies for the ministry. But he found mer- 
cantile life uncongenial to his tastes, and 
also, as frequently conducted, repugnant to 
his principles as a Christian. After a few 
months' experience in this line, he writes, 
somewhat morbidly indeed, yet with a vein 
of bitter truth : " Happiness cannot be found 
in . leaving friends for the sake of a future. 
I have found to my entire satisfaction that 
the attainment of wealth is, generally speak- 
ing, equivalent to serving the Devil ; and 
that to bind yourself for a term of years to 



GROWTH AS A CHRISTIAN. 47 

a mercantile house, is to kill all the better 
sympathies of your nature, and to hinder 
your preparation for Heaven ; which, after 
all, is the great duty of man." 

And again, to his sister, he says : " I be- 
lieve that this world's riches and pleasures 
are not the only things to look for, to labor 
for. Yes, Mary, I trust that I have found 
where the great pearl is ; where the foun- 
tain of wealth, of love, and happiness is 
situated. I need not tell you where. Blessed 
be God, I have found it ! It is at the feet 
of Jesus ; and if God gives me grace and 
strength, there, and there only, will I look 
for my treasure and my happiness. Really, 
Mary, I never felt so happy in the love of 
the Saviour as I have here in San Antonio, 
simply because every thing has been so much 
against me, that I Jiave, at last, settled my 
hopes on the only firm foundation. Only a 
a few days since I made up my mind that 
if God would vouchsafe me health and 
strength, I would devote my life to His ser- 
vice as a preacher of the gospel. You 



48 BRYANT GRAY. 

kncF^ yourself that my desires and talents 
lean that way, and how happy I could be 
with a charge in the country, where I could 
follow out my ideal of a farmer's life, and 
at the same time minister to my flock. What 
happiness ! both for you and me ! I am 
sorely afraid that my insignificant body and 
comparatively weak health will prevent me ; 
but still the day may come yet, when I shall 
be able to follow out my ideal in practice." 
His fidelity to his father in a season of 
business anxiety and alarm, shows how 
strong he had himself become in the assur- 
ance of the gospel. " You remark that my 
writing you on the subject of religion has 
had a salutary effect, and tiiat you are 
pleased with it, and thank me for my in- 
terest in the case. Father, when I read that 
paragraph in your letter, I felt happy that 
my words, written with but little hope of 
effect, should have been acceptable to you. 
I thank God that my prayers have at last 
been answered (as I hope, by your conver- 
sion) ; but if you do not yet feel in your 



GHO WTH AS A CHRISTIAN. 49 

heart that love, which is beyond expres- 
sion ; if you do not yet feel the necessity 
for faith in Christ, which shall carry you 
to heaven ; then, by all the powers of lan- 
guage I could use, I beseech you to delay 
no longer. Now, at this moment, look above 
the mean, sordid cares of business, and the 
empty show of the world, to that Saviour, 
who, I can testify, is able to reliave you of 
the burden of life's cares, and give you such 
a quiet, peaceful hope for the future, that 
you can live the true life which God in- 
tended you should live. 

" Oh that I had the power to impress 
on botlr yourself and mother, the thoughts 
that I would utter 1 but liuraan aid is of 
little avail without the help of the Spirit. 
May you have that I I acknowledge and 
believe that you have led a moral life, and 
that you have always hoped to be saved ; 
but a merdy moral life, a mere hope, is not 
enough. You need the spirit, not the form ; 
and in these times of danger, trouble, and 
adversity — when, if you ever remember God, 
5 



50 BRYANT GRAY, 

you should now — I again ask you to think 
and act on this subject. 

" My heart is full, and I could fill pages, 
but my natural diffidence in speaking to my 
own father upon this matter compels me to 
stop ; yet I know that you appreciate my 
motives, and will not blame me. As to my- 
self, my love grows stronger the more ad- 
versity I have J and I know full well the 
force of that saying, * What profiteth it a 
man if he gain the whole world, and lose 
his own soul ?' Now that millions are lost 
in one hour, under your own eyes, you see 
see its little use, and it must make you 
think, * of what good is it to get all this 
money when I cannot take a cent with me 
after I die V Tliere is the point, ' after I 
die,' what then ? To you, who I know be- 
lieve in a heaven, I need say no more, but 
now in these times of peril, you cannot help 
feeling the utter worthlessness of money, of 
honor, of position. I say that I know you 
feel it ; for I feel it to its fullest extent my- 
self, and you are much older tlian I am. 



GROWTH AS A CHRISTIAN, 61 

Since I left home I have seen the world and 
men in their true light ; now I see the cheat, 
the snares, the hoUowness, the emptiness, 
the delusion of them all. Now, thank God ! 
I see also that but one thing is true, and 
that is Heaven ; and by Divine aid I intend 
to let nothing hinder me from reaching it.'* 



VII. 



^'i^ 



rPHE preceding letters were written during 
■*■ the financial revulsion of the winter of 
1860-61, when the Southern States were 
entering into their infamous conspiracy for 
the destruction of the Union. It will be 
remembered that young Gray set out for 
Texas directly after the Pi-esidential election 
in November, 1860. Hardly liad he arrived 
there when the ferment of secession be- 
gan, which presently rose to a pitch that 
made it unsafe for an avowed patriot to 
remain within reach of the rebels. Hemmed 
in at first by business obligations, he saw 
little hope of escaping the impending ruin. 
"We are living," he writes, "in times 

(52) 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 53 

such as the. world never saw before, and 
possibly by the time this letter reaches you 
the most disastrous event that could happen 
to our beloved country, and to the lovers of 
liberty, will have been consummated — I mean^ 
of course, the separation of the South from the 
North. Indeed, there is no doubt that be- 
fore many weeks pass over our heads, I will 
be a citizen and a resident of a foreign 
country. Even now we do not live in the 
United States, for there is no U. S. ; and 
as far as oneness of country is concerned — 
why, I might as well be in England as to be 
where I am. All hope of compromise is at 
an end. What the future will be, peaceable 
or bloody, 1 cannot tell, but I am afraid we 
shall not meet again." 

This was a strange and startling experi- 
ence for a young man of twenty, far from 
home, and as yet without means or position 
in life. 

" I started," he says, " with the brightest 
hopes, and God allowed me to arrive here 
safe. But what do I see ! Our country 
5* 



54 BRYANT GRAY. 

ruined^ and business' at a dead stop ; no 
hopes of reviving for months to come. Not 
alone these ; I find myself in a place, where, 
to speak your sentiments is death ; where 
it is unsafe to walk the streets ; and in a 
place three thousand miles from home, 
with a good prospect of a stoppage of mails 
and of communication, so that I may not 
write you, or come back to you even. Ah, 
well ! it will make a man of me, and I will 
be stronger for the conflict. Through it all 
I retain a lively faith in God, and to Him I 
look for refuge and safety. I would advise 
you to lay up your treasures in heaven." 

Brief extracts from his letters in the 
order of subsequent events, will bring out 
the picture of Texan society as it appeared 
to an eye-witness in the winter of 1861 : 

" San Antonio, January 19, 1861. 

" One great social trouble is on account 

of the slaves. By some means they have 

become acquainted with the condition of 

the country, and believing that they may 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 53 

eventually become free, tliey have been of 
late very impertinent and dangerous. Num- 
bers of them have already been arrested, 
and they are not allowed to be out after 
7 p. M. Some have been heard to hurrah 
for Lincoln I and others have been found 
with arms concealed. Two nights ago a 
large haystack was burned in the centre of 
the town, and a negro was arrested for 
setting it on fire. A general plot has also 
been discovered to burn the town and murder 
their masters, to be put into effect on Sunday 
the 20th inst. Believing, as I do, that it is 
best for men to say little, and do their best 
for the preservation of the Union at present ; 
why, I shall say nothing, except to ' express 
the hope tliat the lovers of American liberty, 
and of these United States, will finally sucr 
ceed in restoring peace and prosperity to 
the country. I pray for that every day, and 
I know you do also." 

''January 25, 18G1. 
"About a week ago, rumors began to 
reach town that the ' Knio^hts of the Golden 



56 BRYANT GBAT. 

Circle^, and various other organizations of 
secessionists, were preparing to make a de- 
scent upon San Antonio, in order to capture 
the arsenals and the Government stores. 
These men were without authority from the 
State or from the people, and therefore the 
citizens of San Antonio were apprehensive 
that if they came they would attempt to 
plunder and take* advantage of the times. 
You know how many lawless men there are 
in Texas who would gladly join such an 
expedition for the chance of making some- 
thing out of it, and you can imagine, there- 
fore, why the citizens, in common with 
V. & B., should have some fears for the 
safety of their lives and their property. On 
the receipt of the news of the coming of 
this force of twelve hundred men, the town 
was thrown into the greatest confusion. 
Negro insurrection and every tiling else was 
forgotten, and every one began to prepare 
by arming himself and his house. 

" General Twiggs expressed his determi- 
nation to resist the taking of Government 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 57 

property by any mob of lawless men, and 
he was also authorized by the Governor to 
protect the arsenal, etc. He therefore 
armed the United States troops here, sent out 
scouts, and also sent for more soldiers from 
the forts above. The Common Council held a 
special meeting to discuss matters, and this 
morning the result of their conference is seen 
in a notice, posted all around the streets, say- 
ing that : ' Whereas, the unsettled condition 
of the times, and the danger of an attack,' 
etc. ; ' we therefore order the citizens to as- 
semble at 10 A. M., and enroll themselves 
into companies, as a protection to the 
city/ 

" General Twiggs has also placed troops at 
the disposal of the Mayor, and they are to 
act in concert. Special police have been 
sworn in, and, indeed, the streets have been 
patrolled by troops and citizens for some 
time past. A company is forming thi:^ 
morning to protect property in the vicinity 
of V. & B.'s store, who have their head- 
quarters in Mr. Eagar's new store, next door 



58 BRYANT GRAY. 

to US. A portion of the force was expected 
last night, but it did not come. Well, the 
gist of the matter is this, that many men in 
the State wish to take the arsenals and forts 
before secession, and those are the ones, 
joined with some who come for plunder, 
whom we expect to attack us. 

" Then, again, there is another party who 
wish to keep the State in the Union as long 
as possible, and who also will resist any 
mob of secessionists until the vote of the 
people has declared that the State shall 
secede. Of such men are Sam Houston, 
General Twiggs, Vance & Brother, and most 
all of the merchants, of course ; for, in case 
of the withdrawal and disruption of the 
Federal power and troops in Texas, the 
Indians will entirely sweep the frontier, and 
even now, the country is in a great state of 
alarm from their frequent depradations. 
The State has no money in the treasury, 
and cannot get any ; and if secession takes 
place, as of course it will, then every man 
will have to be for himself. Merchants will 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS m TEXAS. 59 

be ruined, and the State will be put back 
many years in her progress." 

''February 2, 1861. 

" By yesterday's mail we received news 
of the secession of Louisiana on the 26tli 
of January. Tliis news destroyed the hopes 
of the Union's preservation in the minds of 
the Union lovers, but the secessionists were 
in great glee over it ; and there is no doubt 
but that it will influence the action of 
Texas. 

" The Convention to consider this subject 
is now in session at Austin, and the latest 
reports show that it will, and in fact has 
passed the ordinance. Sam Houston, who 
all along has been in favor of holding back, 
is now affirmed to have turned around, and 
is strong for immediate secession. The ac- 
tion of the Convention has, however, to be 
submitted to the people, about February 
23d, so that the result will be known by 
the 4th of March. The people may decide 
against secession, as the Union feeling is 
very strong in Texas, but that is uncertain. 



60 BR f ANT GRAY. 

General Twiggs is ready to give up his 
troops ia that event, and most of the United 
States officers are ready to leave for their 
native States when he does so." 

''February 16, 1861. 
" In my last to you I said that Texas had 
been declared to have " seceded " by the 
Canvention. Well, since that date all has 
been quiet, but I knew that it only fore- 
boded a storm ; and sure enoug'h, I woke 
up this morning, and found that some five 
hundred men, K. G. O.'s, had come into 
town about daylight, had taken the AlamOy 
and w^ere assembled ready to take the 
United States troops and Goverament prop- 
erty, peaceably or otherwise. Of course, 
we were all in a great state of excitement : 
for the streets were full of armed men, both 
on foot and on horseback, prepared to fight 
desperately. I buckled on my pistol and 
went out about 6^ o^clock, and found the 
house-tops and all available places taken 
possession of by the militia, so as to resist. 
During this time, a consultation was being 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 61 

held between General Twiggs and the 
other officers, to decide whether to give up 
the Government property to the militia, or 
to resist. Every moment we expected the 
fiofht would commence. Y. k B. closed the 
store, and got their shooters ready ; so did 
the other merchants. 

" The main plaza was guarded by troops 
of Rangers from other parts of Texas, and 
the side streets leading to the arsenal and 
Vance's Government-buildings were guarded 
by K. G. C.'s and city troops. The city 
militia was called out, and I got ready 
to go also ; but I at last concluded to 
stay and defend V. <fe B.'s store. Well, so 
passed the morning ; a fight seemed inevit- 
able ; families left town, stores closed up^ 
and every man armed himself. But, about 
12 o'clock, a shouts announced that the 
consultation was ended, and that General 
Twiggs had given over the Government 
property to the State. So the militia took 
possession, and the rest disbanded. At my 
my present writing, all is quiet again, but 
6 



62 BRYANT GRAY. 

how long it will be so I don't know ; for 
General Twiggs has been discharged from 
command here, and Colonel Waite has been 
appointed by the Secretary of War. The 
colonel will be here in a few hours, and he 
may make mischief again. The city is, of 
course, full of strangers, drunken and law- 
less, and we fear trouble from them ; but 
we are prepared.' The United States troops 
here, to the number of one hundred and 
fifty, will leave in a few hours for the San 
Pedro Springs, where they will camp and 
wait for Colonel Waite to take command 
of them. They will march for the coast 
soon with their arms, and leave, I suppose, 
for New York. Well, so I have seen a 
revolution, and passed unharmed. Five men 
were accidently shot this morning." 

It was now apparent, that, with his love for 
the Union and his manly love of liberty, 
young Gray could not long remain in this 
hot-bed of treason. He writes, on the 20th 
vof February : 

" Suffice it to say, that most of the time I 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 63 

have had to carry a pistol, and when I have 
written most of my letters here I have had 
a pistol by me on the desk. As you might 
also know, I dare not express any senti" 
ments against secession for fear of taking 
the penalty, and I am also afraid to write 
to you,/>r any one else, a true account of 
the state of society here ; for it is a fact, 
they open the letters of any person who is 
at all suspected." 

He would have left at once for the North, 
but was prevailed upon to wait a few weeks 
longer in order to escort a lady relative. 
How critical was his position appears from 
the following note of March 2 : 

" I shall do my best to choke down my 
disgust, my fears, and my contempt for the 
movement now going on here, until Mrs. 
V. is ready to go to New York, which, at 
the furthest, I hope will not be more than 
three weeks, and then I pray God to speed 
me on my journey home ; for my blood boils 
with indignation at the tyranny I see here 
daily — at the starvation, and tlie many acts 



64 BRYANT GRAY. 

consequent upon a revolution. Yet, I can- 
not, I dare not speak a word for fear of the 
rope ; and they say that letters are violated 
in the post-office. But, for once, I will 
speak out, and if any of the self-assumed 
committees see this, they can do as they 
please, only may God have mercy on* them !" 

The following estimate of the value of 
secession to Texas, written in March, 1861, 
has been sadly corroborated by the events of 
the war : 

" You ask me now. What has Texas gained 
by secession ? I answer. Nothing ! abso- 
lutely nothing ! Slie has lost the Overland 
Mail, Pacific Railroad, and the immense 
yearly expenditures of the United States 
Army. With her own hands she has poured 
forth her own life-blood, and spurned from 
her midst the very source of her wealth. 

" Besides this, she has brought upon her- 
self a calamity more to be dreaded than a 
pestilence. I refer to the Indians, who, em- 
boldened by the departure of the United 
States troops from the long line of our fron- 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 63 

tier, are now desolating it with all the savage 
ferocity of their nature. 

" Day after day we receive news of 
the murdering of whole families, and the 
stealing of thousands of horses and cattle 
from the poor settlers. The frontier is al- 
most depopulated, by reason of the desertion 
of its inhabitants, and is now entirely at 
the mercy of the redskins. They have even 
been so bold as to come within five miles of 
this large town. The cry for aid and pro- 
tection has, of course, been responded to by 
the people of San Antonio ; young and old, 
rich and poor, have left their business, and 
are scouring the country. Your correspon- 
dent would also have gone, could he have 
gotten a horse. 

" More than this ; the Mexicans along 
the Rio Grande, knowing of the revolution, 
are about to prey on us ; and Cortinas, the 
outlaw, is now upon the frontier, with some 
six hundred bandits, waiting, they say, for a 
chance to plunder." 

" With the scarcity of money, and the 
6* 



66 BR Y A NT GRAY. 

prospective tariiF, we shall suffer much here, 
unless a kind Providence gives us a bounti- 
ful harvest. 

" If I mistake not, the tyranny and op- 
pression of the Convention at Austin, must 
soon produce its effect, and before long you 
may expect to hear of great uprisings of the 
people here in Texas, as well as throughout 
tlie South. To conclude : Texas, by her 
hasty action, has sunk to the position which 
she occupied ten years ago." 

Though the terrorism of rebel rule has 
prevented any general uprising of the Un- 
ionists in Texas, there are thousands of 
loyal men yet in that State, anxiously await- 
ing its liberation by a Union army. 

A few weeks before, Bryant, in company 
with a Methodist minister, had visited the 
mountains of the Guadalupe, traveling on 
horseback, with such accoutrements for 
camping out, as two mustangs could carry. 
On the fifth day, having exhausted their 
supply of food, the travelers missed the 
trail, which had been covered by snow- 



TEE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 67 

drifts, and at niglitfall came to the fearfuj 
conviction that they were lost. Bryant's 
account of this adventure, written for the 
Evening Post, after his return to New York, 
may serve also for a picture of the disap- 
pointment and disaster which had over- 
taken his young life by reason of the storm 
of rebellion that swept over the State of his 
adoption : 

. . . . " Our attention being dis- 
tracted by the many deer that bounded 
across our path, blinded us to the fact that 
we were wandering hither and thither ; and 
only when the thick gathering shadows 
compelled us to lead our stumbling steeds, 
did we awake to the reality of our being 
lost. 

" Lost ! Yes ; and the last ray of light 
departed ; leaving us, on this barren peak, 
alone to our bitter musings. It was impos- 
sible to proceed ; deep ravines lay beyond 
and at the side of us ; yet how could we 
pass the night in such a spot ? 

" The wind had freshened, and was blow- 



68 BRYANT GRAF. 

ing so piercing cold that, hastily gathering 
up some bits of wood, we built a fire, by 
the light of which we staked out our po- 
nies to feed as best they might on the scanty 
crisp grass. Heaping branches on the fire, 
we soon had a roaring blaze, and clearing 
away the stones, we spread our blankets on 
the ground, placed our saddles for pillows, 
and with our feet to the fire, essayed to 
sleep. But, with shaking limbs and chat- 
tering teeth, we could not woo the ' sweet 
restorer,' and to add to our discomfort, a 
fear of surprise and capture by Indians 
haunted us with all its terrors. Every 
sound or stamp of our horses' feet was to 
us the coming of the savage foe ; every 
rushing of the wind, his stealthy advance. 
And thus, hour after hour of almost insup- 
portable nervous agony passed slowly by, 
until, in very despair, we destroyed the 
source of our little warmth, that it might no 
longer be a beacon to the enemy. As I 
stood peering into the darkness, the full 
moon rose, and by its light I glanced at 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 69 

my watch. It was midnight of the 31st of 
December, 1860. 

" See ! what form is that speeding across 
the misty moonbeams, and plunging into tho 
dim shadows beyond ? 'T is the Old Year 
seeking its rest ! Now comes the young 
giant, son of Mars I The battle-year has 
dawned ! 

'• Thus did I pass that New- Year's Eve — 
a shivering sentinel on the mountains of the 
Guadalupe ! 

" Many moments did we stand there, quiet 
as nature around, thinking of the loved ones 
at home, and conjuring up gloomy visions 
of the future, so soon to bring true our 
wildest fears. But the chilling wind of the 
mountain top compelled us to descend to 
the bottom of the nearest ravine ; where, 
with some dead trees, we again made a fire, 
around which we passed the remainder of 
the night, anxiously awaiting the break of 
day. As the first streak of gray light ap- 
peared we ascended to the peak, gathered 
our trappings, saddled and mounted, and 



70 BRYANT GRAY. 

when the sun rose were seeking to find 
some way of descent into the valley. 

" By dint of much labor in riding and 
leading our ponies, we reached the prairie, 
in which, after many disappointments, we 
found a stream whose course we determined 
to follow, in hopes of meeting with a settle- 
ment either that day or the next. Heart- 
sick and dispirited, weak with hunger and 
exposure, we rode listlessly on until noon 
had come and gone, but no human habita- 
tion was to be seen. Oh, happy sight ! Oh, 
glorious reality ! For in the distance a 
thin column of smoke went curling up into 
the air. ^ith vigor now in every limb, we 
whipped and spurred until the long looked-for 
cabin came in view, and we were soon mak- 
ing our ' New- Year's call.' 

" The German bachelor exile was most 
happy to see us, and politely invited us ' to 
step into the back parlor and take a little 
sometliing to eat ;' which we did to our great 
satisfaction and considerably to liis loss. 
The next evening, January 2, 1861, as we 



THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN TEXAS. 71 

gained the ridge of a rise of ground, we 
beheld the many glittering lights of the 
Ciudad of San Antonio de Bexar. 

" I need hardly tell how, subsequently, I 
was obliged to leave the scenes of my ad- 
ventures, and return to the loved fireside 
from which I now write, nor why I am 
about to join the ranks of the army for 
the Union. My companion but recently 
took a horseback tour for the airing of his 
political opinions, across the great Indian ter- 
ritories, from Texas to Iowa, and now will 
pass a Happy New- Year in a free land. 

" I bless God for his mercies I I thank 
him for his guidance ! But I pray to be 
preserved from passing another New Year's 
on the mountains of the Guadalupe." 




VIIL 



(BnlMtA i^x tfti Wn. 



T EAYING San Antonio on tlie 4tli of 
^ April, 1861, he returned to Kew York 
by way of Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, 
barely escaping the embargo which the rebel 
leaders placed upon emigration to the North. 
His soul was so fired with patriotism that 
he would have enlisted at once as a private, 
if his health had been equal to the service. 
He went so far as to offer himself to the 
medical examiners, but was refused as want- 
ing in physical stamina. ♦ 

His friends urged him to prepare himself 
for the ministry — a work for which he had 
a special aptitude. But while he longed 

thus to honor Christ, he shrank from an 
(12) • 



ENLISTED FOR THE WAR. 78 

office so responsible and so sacred, through 
a feeling of personal un worthiness ; and be- 
sides, he was ready " to sacrifice that also 
for his country." At the same time, in the 
depressed state of business, there seemed to 
be no opening in commercial or in literary 
pursuits congenial to his tastes. Months 
afterward, while holding an lionorable posi- 
tion in the army, referring to this period of 
uncertainty, he said : 

" It seems a touch of romance, or rather 
is it not a good Providence that has led me ! 
When in the winter of 1860 in Texas, I suf- 
fered so much from fear of the malignant 
traitors there, I wondered if ever I should 
occupy any decent position in life again ; 
and then this winter also, when I almost 
despaired of obtaining any employment, and 
actually taught school at one dollar per 
week, I hardly believed that my present 
good fortune would ever come ; although I 
did sometimes have the temerity to dream 
that I might get into the Union army as an 
officer. You and father never knew, in 
7 



74 BRYANT GRAY. 

tliose few despairing months for me, how 
often 1 left tlie house for the express purpose 
of eiilisting as a private in some regiment ; 
and many times did I stand before the door 
of a recruiting office ready to sign the rolls, 
but something held me back. I prayed ear- 
nestly for guidance in my troubles and my 
course. As the result of God's care, I am 
now in Washington, in (may I not say it) 
the responsible and honorable position of 
Aid to General Doubleday.'^ 

So resolute was he for entering the army 
in some capacity, that when refused as a 
private, and induced by his father to seek 
health and quiet in the country, he " could 
hear nothing but the long-roll call for men 
to fall in and join the great Army of Free- 
dom." Restless and discontented under his 
enforced quietude, he started to walk the 
distance of a hundred miles from Dover 
Plains to J^ew York, with a view to hard- 
ening himself for the fatigues of a campaign. 
He then commenced to drill and to study 
tactics under Colonel Tompkins, and in a 



ENLISTED FOR THE WAB. 75 

short time was able to stand his examination 
as a line officer. In the month of December, 
1861, he repeived a commission as First 
Lieutenant in the Fourth New York Heavy 
Artillery, and soon after took his departure 
for the seat of war. The consecration of 
such a youth to such a cause is most fitly 
described in these lines from the patriot and 
poet whose name he bore : 

"New York, March 8, 1864. 
" My Dear Sir — I am very glad that you 
are about to give the world a memoir of 
Bryant Gray. The example of this young 
man's amiable and blameless, and at the 
same time active and useful life, will, I am 
sure, suffer nothing in your hands. 1 have 
always taken an interest in his personal 
history from the time that his father, with 
whom I had no previous acquaintance, in- 
formed me, while his son was yet an infant, 
that as a token of his regard for me, he had 
given him my name. It gave me pleasure 
to hear from time to time of his progress as 
a scholar, and of the unfolding beauty of his 



76 BRYANT GRAY. 

character. Most particularly was I glad to 
learn, that to a spirit more than commonly 
adventurous, he joined a singular innocence 
of life and tenderness of conscience. When 
he entered on the career of a soldier, the 
thoughts which arose in my mind I have 
since expressed in the verses which follow : 

" Youth who hast left the household roof 
Yet uncorrupt and innocent. 
And brought thy virtue to the proof 
That waits it in the soldier's tent, 

" Think that the cause is half divine 

That girds thee with the warrior's brand, 
And be the steadfast purpose thine 
To wield it with a stainless hand. 

" Then shouldst thou perish in the strife, 
The tears that Aveep thy death shall flow 
For one who gave a stainless life 
To shield his country from the foe. 

*' Or when the storm of war is stilled, 
Tears warm and soft as summer rain 
Shall welcome him who, from the fleld 
Brings back a life without a sfain. 



ENLISTED FOR THE WAR. *J*l 

" But these lines very imperfectly express 
the influences which preserved the purity of 
this excellent young man's character. He 
had submitted himself humbly to the teach- 
ings of Jesus, and putting his trust in the 
Divine aid, which is vouchsafed to all who 
seek it in sincerity, and affectionately con- 
templating the life which the Great Doer of 
Good passed on earth, he sought to make 
that life the model of his own, and to engage 
others in like manner to imitate it. I rejoice 
that a life so pure and happy, from its be- 
ginning to its close, is to have a worthy 
record, and to be commended by you to ihe 
study of the young men of our country, who, 
like the subject of your memoir, have left 
the shelter of their, homes for the toils and 
temptations of tlie camp. 

" I am, dear sir, faithfully yours, 

WM. C. BRYANT. 
** Rev. Dr. J. P. Thompson." 



•J* 



IX. 



Mt 3Mkt Ml fei^ Wt^mt 



T lEUTENANT GRAY began his military 
-^ career among the defenses of Washing- 
ton, where his regiment was stationed. 
Here, at first, he had the simple routine of 
a line officer within fortifications, with none 
of the excitement of a campaign. But he 
contrived to give variety and zest to camp- 
life by his practical efforts for the welfare 
of his men, and by a constant and lively 
correspondence with friends at home. A 
New York paper of January 20, 1862, re- 
ported on tlie authority of a visitor to the 
army, that " Lieutenant Gray, of First Regi- 
ment Heavy Artillery, now at Fort Rich- 
mond, wants books and tracts. Ho gx)es 

('78) 



THE SOLDIER AND HIS HOME. 79 

around himself and gathers them up from 
any quarter he can, to distribute among his 
men." 

. About the same date he wrote to a friend : 
"We started a temperance pledge in our 
company the other day, and many have 
signed it, including myself. We have also 
a society that agrees to kick every man 
who swears in the barracks ! But, of course, 
the future alone will show what can be done 
in these things." 

I find no report of the effect of this ap- 
plication of " muscular Christianity" to the 
vice of swearing ; but it were well to have 
Bome method of stamping profaneness as 
vulgarity. It is evident that Lieutenant 
Gray lost nothing in the favor of his men 
by taking high ground for morality and 
religion, for subsequent events proved him 
to be a most popular as well as efficient 
officer. At the same time his home letters 
were full of affectionate, minute, and playful 
interest in the affairs of his household. To a 
little sister he sends this amusing message : 



80 BRYANT GRAY. 

" I am glad that A has yet so much 

life about her that she likes to play with 
the kitten ; but tell her that she must not 
play all the time. When mother calls her 
to do something, she must softly put the 
kitten in a drawer and lock it up, so that 
it won't be running around and distracting 
her attention ; then, when she is through 
with her work, she can play with the kitten 
again. She might have an india-rubber 
pipe run from inside the drawer out through 
the window, so that the kitten can get some 
air and not smother." 

Again, he writes to her : 

" Your little letter to me was very wel- 
come, and I hope you will write me again. 
I am glad that you write so well ; and now 
that you go to school, I suppose that you 
will soon write as well as Mary or Amelia. 
But do not spend too much time with your 
cat in playing, for then you cannot study as 
you should. I hope that I shall come back 
soon, for I would like to see you again, and 
I often think of you. 



THE SOLDIER AND HIS HOME. 81 

" Well, I have but little time to write 
to-niglit, and to-morrow I am to go on a 
journey, so I must bid you good-by for the 
present. Of course, you will write me 
again, and remember to pray for us all 
every day, and love your Saviour." 

To another sister who. was beginning to 
cherish hope in Christ, he sends his maturer 
counsels : 

"Washington, Ai^ril 17, 1862. 

'^ E am sorry that you cannot find any one 
to talk with about the Saviour as familiarly 
as you desire. Indeed, I wish I were with you 
for a few hours, and could converse and sing 
as we did out on the hill last summer ; but 
you know I must now sacrifice many things to 
the cause of my country. But I am certain 
that if you will only throw off your timidity 
and bashfulness, you will find many glad to 
talk or pray with you. Father, also, I know, 
would like to have you speak with liim on 
the subject of religion ; and I wish you 
would do so, and pray for him and for 
motlier, and for all of us, as often as you 



82 BRYANT GRAY. 

can. Still, even if you cannot find any one 
to talk witli, you know you always have the 
Saviour himself; He will always listen to 
you ; and oh, how gladly he accepts the love 
of a young heart like yours !" 

And again, writing to the same, he 
says : . 

" Your remarks about the Sunday-school 
are made in the right spirit, and I hope you 
will never get tired of it. It is very true 
that many girls think they are too large to 
go to Sabbath-school, but I know you do 
not. What more pleasant place is there, 
with sweet singing, and love beaming from 
every face ! Then to be a teacher, as I 
know you will be, if you live to be a few 
years older — what joy to teach those glori- 
ous truths, and to lead some little child to 
the Saviour !" 

He himself knew the pleasure of leading 
children to God through the Sabbath-school, 
though he never knew in this world how 
much good he had accomplished. While 
residing in New York, on his return from 



THE SOLDIER AND HIS HOME. 83 

Texas, he taught a mission school in a poor 
district on the western side of the city, and 
was very active in bringing street-boys into 
the school. Recently, his father, ordering 
some goods from a grocery, gave his name 
and number to the clerk, who on hearing 
them exclaimed, with surprise and pleasure, 
*' Oh, I know tliat house, Lieutenant Gray 
lived there ! He was the making of me. 
He found me one Sunday playing with 
wicked boys on the street ; he coaxed me 
into his Sunday-school ; he followed me up 
through the week ; he got me my place ,• he 
took me to his house to talk with me ; he 
made me what I am. I loved him as my 
best friend, and when he died I mourned 
for him as for a brother." 

The spiritual good of his own family al- 
ways lay near his heart, and he lost no op- 
portunity of furthering this, either by con- 
versation or by letter. To a younger brother 
with whom he had had faithful conversa- 
tions at home, he writes (May 5, 1862) : 

" Well, I have written you a long letter ; 



84 BRYANT GRAY. 

you must VvTite me a good one 4n answer. I 
hear that you have been quite sick, but I 
hope you are well now. Oh ! my brother, 
don't neglect to pray, and love your Saviour 
with all your heart. How happy you will 
be always if you do that ! God bless and 
make you a good and dutiful son and scholar 
and a faithful Christian !" 

His filial affection was remarkably strong. 
He always confided in his father's counsels, 
and doted upon him as his dearest friend. 
How touchingly is this expressed in the 
following lines, and how beautiful, too, the 
analogy of this filial devotion to the con- 
fidence of Christian faith. He writes to 
his father (April 11, 1862) : 

" I am happy to think that you consider 
all my letters interesting because they 
come from your son. The simple certainty 
that I have a father who follows my foot- 
steps with such anxiety and pleasure as I 
know you do, is a pleasing thought to me, 
and helps sustain me in the many dark 
thoughts which I sometimes have of the fu- 



THE SOLDIER Al^D HIS HOME. 85 

tnre. I only wish, and God knows how I 
pray for it, that both you and I may look 
upward to our mutual Father in heaven, and 
love and thank him for his care and mercy !'^ 

The minute interest of the soldier in his 
home circle should be reciprocated by them 
in their letters to the camp. Such letters 
should abound in familiar domestic details, 
and be always full of hope and good cheer. 
The practical hints of the following should 
be regarded by all families having repre- 
sentatives in the army. Writing to a sister, 
Bryant says : 

"Aware of the truth of your remark that 
home-life is not so varied as one might sup- 
pose, I have also to add that when one is 
away, especially situated as I am, every 
item, even to the most minute and seemingly 
unimportant, is of great import and value. 
Therefore, please bear this in mind here- 
after, and keep me well posted, even as to 
whether you take dinner at 1 or 6 o'clock ; 
or whether Margaret says ' parrot ' to Al- 
ice, etc. 

8 



86 BRYANT GRAY. 

" I only wish, sometimes, that I could 
change my identity for a day or so, or in 
some way see myself and my actions as I 
know you must observe them at home. For 
instance, when I stood guard that lonely 
night, it was romance and hardship both 
to me ; but I know it must seem much more 
romantic to you.'' 

Still, with all the romance of war, and 
with all his conviction of duty, his heart of- 
ten yearned for home. Thus he writes from 
Washington, April 23, 1862, to his Sister 
Mary . 

" For some reason best known to Provi- 
dence, my life seems destined to be spent 
away from home. Scarcely do I get there, 
than some unexpected turn of events calls 
me away. I grant that this educates me to 
a better appreciation of the world, and the. 
ways of its many inhabitants. From being 
as I once was, a boy of an exceeding mod- 
est and retiring disposition, it has made me 
a man, with higher aims, and I trust nobler 
purposes. From being microcosmatic, it 



THE SOLDIER AJSW fllS HOME. 87 

has made me cosmopolitan in my tastes and 
desires ; but with all this, I fear that the 
spirit of unrest is gaining ascendency over 
me, that I can no longer be satisfied with the 
quiet of home ; — a disposition to move and 
keep moving, and a love for excitement, 
which will not be satisfied by the monotony 
of ordinary business routine. I say that I 
fear all this — it is but a natural consequence, 
yet I will not give way to it. That love 
for my fireside, which is so deeply implanted 
in my breast, that pleasure which I have in 
the nearness of a true friend only there to 
be found, will and must be the power wliich 
shall hold me, till God, in His great mercy, 
shall end t)iis War for Freedom, and take 
me safely to your side once more." 



X. 



T lEUTENANT GRAY'S efficiency as an 

■^ officer, his general intelligence, and his 
high moral tone soon attracted the atten- 
tion of his superiors, and in February, 1862, 
after only a few weeks of military service, 
he was assigned to a position on the staff 
of Brigadier- General Doubleday. The fol- 
lowing letter exhibits both his soldierly 
pride and his manly modesty in view of the 
promotion. It was written to his father 
from Washington, March 5, 18G2 : 

" I thank my friends for their congratula- 
tions, and to some extent I agree with you, 
when you say, that I will find others of less 
merit occupying higlier places. I am much 
afraid, however, that I have been too highly 

(88) 



AS A STAFF OFFICER. 89 

estimated by General and by Major Double- 
day. I would rather be under-estimated 
and rise gradually, than to fall suddenly. 

" But this position has been thrust upon 
me without my consent or knowledge, and 
if I do not come up to the General's expec- 
tations, of course the fault will be his own. 
I am glad that you attribute my success to 
the right cause. I sincerely hope tliat now 
you will seek for that religion which can 
alone sustain and comfort you in these 
times. My example may be of no value, 
but your own future welfare depends on the 
choice you now make. Won't you take the 
step and taste of tlie happiness, peace and 
joy that flow from it ?" 

With respect to the feeling of his regi- 
ment at parting with him, he adds : 

" The fact of my always doing my duty 
to my men, attending to all their wants, 
and being kind and affectionate toward 
them, lias made them love me, and they 
really overwhelm me with their kindness. 
But I must not flatter myself any more. 
8^ 



90 BET ANT GRAY. 

Pride always has a fall, and I shall still 
continue to pray God to keep me an humble 
Christian." 

His staff-position brought hira nearer to 
the heart of the war. He entered upon it at 
the critical period when General McClellan, 
having brought the Army of the Potomac to 
the highest perfection of drill and organiza- 
tion, was about to try its efficiency in the 
Peninsular campaign against Richmond. 
For a time Lieutenant Gray was detained 
in Washington and its vicinity, but he was 
soon called to active service in General 
McDowell's corps. The insight into the 
spirit of army officers, and his familiarity 
with affairs at Washington, revealed to him 
much of that ambiguous patriotism and con- 
ditional loyalty which subsequent events, 
and the publication of contemporary docu- 
ments, have now laid bare to the public. 
Probably at no time in the history of the 
war has there been so much of military dil- 
ettanteism and so little of moral enthusiasm 
in the high places of the army. 



AS A STAFF OFFICER. 91 

He writes from Washington, April 5, 1862 : 

" I have a slight presentiment that I will 
not see home and you all again, but still we 
can but trust in God, and hope to meet else- 
where. I still have hope of the speedy ter- 
mination of the war, but my belief is some- 
what shaken by my observation of the many 
traitors in the army." 

His letters abound in praise of the loy- 
alty and the capacity of his own General, but 
his insight into the tone of the army, led 
him to write : " I tell you, father, I see clearly 
that through Providence and the valor of 
our soldiers alone can we defeat rebeldom. 
Treason, incompetency, and bad generalship 
are so prevalent, thaj; it seems as if the 
country must be turned upside down to make 
it even partially clean and pure. But I 
believe God is with us !" 

His criticisms may have been too severe. 
But his faith in our cause sustained him un- 
der all these outward discouragements. In 
reply to his father's exhortation to personal 
bravery, in view of an impending battle, the 



92 BRYANT GRAY. 

Lieutenant expresses feelings worthy of the 
true soldier : 

" I grant that my temperament may be a 
nervous one, but in a great cause *like this, 
my principles are firm, and I know that in 
the rush of battle the very excitement will 
make me cool and quiet — it always does. I 
certainly shall try (as you hope I will) to 
do my duty as one who means it, and 1 thank 
you for your hope that I may, after all is 
over, return safely home. 

^' I must say here, that my love for my 
country is as strong as ever, but unfortu- 
nately the breaking down of all my preju- 
dices in favor of the generals, officers, and 
leading men of our army and country makes 
me fear for our future. Could you but see, 
as I do now, the concealed treason of many 
high in authority, and the absolute disa- 
vowal by them of their oaths to attend to 
the best interests of the nation, you would 
feel anxious for coming days also." 

Perhaps the Lieutenant's judgment of his 
superiors was warped by his own zeal for 



AS A STAFF OFFICER. 93 

freedom. Yet the fact will not be questioned, 
tliat tlie reluctance of many officers to favor 
the enfranchisement of the negro, was for a 
long time an incubus upon the army. Con- 
ditional loyalty could never inspire heroic 
deeds. But that day of darkness and doubts 
has passed away. 

A little later, just starting from Washing- 
ton for the front, Bryant writes to a sister : 

" I am sorry to say that I find life in the 
army not conducive to the ' higher Christian 
experience/ and I am not so sensitive and 
deeply religious as before. I am glad to 
see that you have gained so high a stand- 
point. Struggle on ! pray for me, and for 
us all, and if I should not come back to you, 
I hope we will (I dare not say I will) meet 
in heaven. 

" I think, from what I hear, that we will 
have much fighting (if the enemy don't back 
out), and I expect before long to be in Rich- 
mond. I may not have much chance to 
write you when we get to marching, but I 
shall write, if possible, from Fredericksburg, 



94 BRYANT GRAY. 

and as often as I can afterward. If you 
look in the papers closely for any action in 
which General McDowell's corps d'armee 
and General Doubleday's brigade are con- 
cerned, you will see of course if any accident 
happens to me, or any of us. I shall always, 
if need be, uphold my country's flag, and be 
no dishonor to you and my family." 

The campaign into which he now entered 
for active service tested all his faith and 
fortitude. It was soon apparent that his 
physical strength would be severely tasked 
by its exposures. Writing from camp, oppo- 
site Fredericksburg, about the middle of 
June, he says : 

" Since the 12th I have had a sick time 
of it — in bed all the time ; but to-day I am 
much better and stronger. Doctor says I 
came very near having a bad type of typhoid 
fever. But I- have liad bilious fever, head- 
ache, and diarrhoea all together. So now I 
am, of course, pretty weak, as I have eaten 
nothing for some days. I am lying in my 
bed, raised up on my elbow. In a day or 



AS A STAFF OFFICER. 95 

two, at the outside, I shall be around, and 
at work, as all danger has passed. 

" I am sorry that I have no public relig- 
ious privileges, for without sympathy and 
co-operation with, others, we become cold 
and lax in discipline. The negroes around, 
of whom we employ quite a number, are, 
however, quite lively ; and their singing 
in the evening of old-fashioned Methodist 
hymns is quite refreshing. I shall strive, 
however, to keep close in my thoughts to 
God, and to jow all, and hope for the com- 
ing time when I can enjoy worship in New 
York." 

Just as he had recovered from this illness 
his constant forebodings of disaster from 
the Peninsular campaign, were more than 
verified in the retreat upon Harrison's Land- 
ing. 

"e/ti^y 3, 1862. 

" I assure you that the Senators and the 
people are waking up to the Tact that a new 
policy must be adopted, other than concilia- 
tion, before the war can be ended. Every 



96 BRYANT GHAT. 

one liere is asking for the news from McClel- 
lan ; nothing — dark — defeat is the whisper. 
There is no doubt that McClellan is defeat- 
ed, and you will please remember my letter 
to you some time in April, describing what 
would be the inevitable result of his going 
down to the Peninsula. Defeat, I said ; de- 
feat it is ; and what a terrible loss of life. 
Really, it seems as if every household in the 
land was to be smitten with the ' death of 
its first-born/ But I think all is for the 
best, for more troops have been called for, 
and we can crush with greater power." 

"JwZy 5, 1862. 
"If our fortunes arew retrieved, and we 
can outnumber the rebels, Richmond may be 
taken, and the war carried into the more 
central portions of the South. But now I 
tell you the crisis is at hand, and God alone 
knows what the result will be. I cannot 
believe that He will desert us in this cause, 
which seems fo be, and is, so just and holy. 
But I do think that Providence is chastising 
us for our sins, and forcing us by bitter suf- 



AS A STAFF OFFICER. 97 

fering to the adoption of a policy wliicli will 
be consistent with religion, humanity, and 
justice toward our fellow-men and ourselves. 
I could give you incidents, witnessed by my 
own eyes, at the relation of which, you would 
wonder that we have succeeded as well as 
we have. We can only hope that an over- 
ruling Power, and the strong common sense 
and patriotism of the Korthern people will 
bring us out right. But, I fear, you will 
think me a politician, so I will restrain my 
wrath and just indignation." 



XI. 



THE appointment of General Pope to the 
^ supreme command in central Virginia, 
revived the hopes of the nation, which had 
been dispirited by the delays and disasters 
of the Peninsular campaign ; and his an- 
nouncement of a vigorous and aggressive 
warfare, though made in terms of unmilitary 
extravagance, cheered the army already 
weary of the " conciliatory'' method of deal- 
ing with the enemy. It was not then fore- 
seen that he and his army must be sacrificed 
to the necessity of extricating General 
McClellan's army from the Peninsula. On 
the eve of marching, Lieutenant Gray wrote 
from Fredericksburg, to his father (at the 
close of July, 1862) : 

(98) 



GENERAL POPE'S CAMPAIGK 99 

" I wish to warn you not to believe any 
of the monstrous stories they fabricate about 
the defeat of the Union army and the suc- 
cess of the rebel cause. You will no doubt 
be almost forced to believe that we have 
given up the contest and all is lost ! But 
don't credit it at all. We are now in a 
better condition than ever before ; the people 
have waked up to the fact that we are at 
war, and now demand a policy for, and a 
conduct of it, which shall crush the rebellion 
speedily. In answer to this call of the 
people, the President and Congress have 
made the * Confiscation Acf a law ; the 
slaves of rebels are freed, the soldiers sub- 
sist upon the enemy, and shoot guerrillas ; 
in fact, in every way, except universal 
emancipation is not yet proclaimed, has the 
policy been changed for the better. Yes, 
the past has been dark, and a few weeks 
since it did, indeed, look as if our cause was 
almost ruined. But, thank God ! a vigorous 
policy is now in operation." 

In the hope inspired by this new phase of 



100 BRYANT GRAY. 

the war, tliougli scarcely recovered from a 
debilitating illness, Lieutenant G-ray en- 
tered with ardor and alacrity upon the 
march to the front. His description of the 
marching and fighting in that brief but 
terrible campaign under General Pope, 
would furnish a valuable chapter in the his- 
tory of the war. But there is room here 
for only a few extracts : 

" Culpepper C. H., August 13, 1862. 
" On our way we heard the roar of the 
cannon from the battle-field at this place, 
and it moved us to march faster. But such 
suffering for water ! the day was intensely 
hot, the road dry and dusty, and no water 
to be found, except at long intervals, and 
then dirty and warm. Finally, we came to 
the Rapidan River. We had just been 
drenched to the skin in a severe storm, and 
were in no humor to wade through the river, 
which was stomach deep ; but in the men 
went with a shout, and then on the opposite 
bank we bivouacked. The heat and dust, and 
lack of water, had, however, caused the men 



GENERAL POPE'S CAMPAIQX. 101 

to fall down by the wayside in such num- 
bers, tliat, when we camped, each regiment 
numbered only about one hundred and fifty 
or two hundred men. The wagon-train 
was also far behind, stuck in the mud, and 
the men suffered for want of provisions. A 
dispatch soon came from General McDowell 
ordering us to leave camp before daylight, 
put the men's knapsacks into the wagons, 
and join him with all possible speed. So 
General Doubleday gave orders for us to 
take a little sleep, and to start at 2 a. m. 
All night stragglers were coming in, and 
wagons also, so that we slept but little. 
I lay on a board bench, but at 1 o'clock a.m., 
the General sent me into the camp to wake 
the cooks, and have the coffee and meat for 
the men. At 2 A. m. the staff mounted, 
and by the clear moonlight I helped form 
line in the road. Major D. led the ad- 
vance-guard, the soldiers loaded their pieces, 
and the word was given, ' Forward !' 
Slowly through the dense woods, with our 
scouts watching, and no noise (save from a 
9* 



102 BRYANT GRAY. 

few wagons), we marched till daylight, 
when we came up witli General Patrick's 
brigade in camp at a cross road. We 
halted to await the arrival, by another road, 
of General King's division. Presently they 
came — regiment after regiment of infantry, 
cavalry and artillery, and soon we started, 
acting as rear-guard to the division. A 
section of artillery was given us, and away 
we went. The men being lightened of their 
heavy burdens, and the roads being moist, 
we marched splendidly, but it waxed warm 
again, and as a whole corps cVarmee was 
in front of us, they drank every drop of 
water almost, and our suffering for the want 
of it became intense. But still we pushed 
on and on. About noon we halted for an 
hour or so, and then in the afternoon, and 
into the night up to 10 P. M. we still kept 
on. What a sight it^was to see men rush 
like deer for the precious water ! 

" I cannot describe to you the emotions 
which passed through my breast, while we 
expected every moment to hear the signal 



GENERAL POPES CAMPAIGN. 103 

for battle. I tliouglit of you all, and how 
unfit I was to enter into the presence of my 
Maker ; but I felt glad to fight for my 
country, and trusted in God's mercy. It is 
impossible to think that I shall not soon be 
in battle, for we wait for orders each mo- 
ment. A kind Providence may preserve 
me, although my position is one which gives 
but little chance for life, and if I am not 
spared, and cannot write you again, please 
remember my great desire, that all of you 
should seek to gain God's love, and that 
thereby we may have a happy home in 
heaven." 

The subsequent story how this eager ad- 
vance was turned into an anxious and 
perilous retreat, terminating in the second 
disaster of Bull Run, is hurriedly told in a 
letter addressed to a sister then in Europe. 
The fatigue and exhaustion of that retreat, 
brought on with aggravated violence a form 
of disease from which the Lieutenant had 
suffered at Fredericksburg, and which made 
it impossible for him longer to ride his horse. 



104 BRYANT GRAY. 

Accordingly at the date of this letter, we 
find him again in fort with his old regiment, 
as an officer of the line : 

"Fort Ethan Allen, Sept. 15, 1862. 

" What stores of information, and what 
memory- treasured sights of storied Rhine, 
and noble cathedrals, and grand old cities, 
you must have. I envy you ; and yet do 
you know that I love you more since I read 
your outbursts of patriotism and love of 
country, which grieved you to be away 
from us in this crisis, and made you feel 
that you were needed to do your share for 
the nation's weal ! It pays me for my suf- 
ferings and hardships to know that I have 
a sister who appreciates the sacrifice and 
loves the cause. 

" After writing you from Fredericksburg, 
our division was ordered to march and 
meet the enemy. We made a forced march, 
and reached him, but he retreated. We 
advanced to Cedar Mountain, but he again 
advanced on us, and we were obliged to 
retreat, and then commenced to fight. For 



GENERAL POPES CAMPAIGN 105 

more than a week we fell back, and foiiglit 
all the time, during which I saw my first 
battle, and knew what it was to hear the 
shells whizzing about me, and see the sad 
sight of men falling by me, of blood, of 
smoke, of ghastly wounds, and all the hor- 
rible scenes of war. Thank God ! I am 
preserved through it all, though by many 
narrow escapes. But before (and only a 
day or two before) the retreat to Manassas, 
and the bloody battle there, I became so 
utterly prostrated and worn out by the 
severe marching of the fortnight previous ; 
by the ex}X)Sure of sleeping in the rain and 
mud ; by the lack of food and of rest, and 
especially by the great nervous tension 
which anxiety and fighting produce, that I 
resigned my position on General D.'s staff, 
and, putting myself in a surgeon's hands, 
left for Alexandria, to rejoin my regiment, 
or to go into hospital. My experience and 
sufferings during the week it took me to get 
here, I can hardly describe. The rebels 
had got ahead of us, and destroyed the 



106 BRYANT GRAF, 

track to Alexandria, and surrounded us on 
every side. I almost starved, barely escaped 
capture, was compelled to walk many weary 
miles, and sleep by the roadside, and finally 
got on a train filled witli wounded from the 
great battle-field, and reached Alexandria. 
I could not get into the crowded hospitals, 
and so I made my way to my regiment and 
company, who received me with open arms 
at this fort." 

A letter to his father, of about the same 
date, gives some additional particulars of 
this melancholy and wearisome campaign : 

" On leaving Culpepper, we advanced to 
the battle ground of Cedar or Slaughter 
Mountain, and encamped there a day or so ; 
but the rebels advanced upon us in such 
large numbers that we retreated at night 
and made a forced marcli to the Rappa- 
hannock River. Scarcely had we crossed 
the river, when they came upon us, and a 
severe skirmish took place, of which I was 
a witness. The next day our brigade was 
in a severe shelling fire of the rebels ; the 



GENERAL POPES CAMPAIGN. ■ 107 

next day we supported a battery of light 
artillery posted on the hills on one side of 
the Rappahannock, while the rebels fired at 
us with big guns from the other. Here we 
remained for two days, the shot and shell 
whizzing and singing over our heads and 
about us, killing and wounding many. One 
shot just grazed the blanket on m.y horse. 
Here I first became accustomed to the sick- 
ening sight of blood and death. Suddenly 
^ve retreated from Rappahannock Station, 
and marched to Warren ton. Here we again 
supported a battery for two days, with the 
same horrible experience of the bursting 
shell and wounds. God preserved me through 
it all. 

" It would be difficult," he continues, " for 
me to tell you my experience in getting 
from Warrenton to Alexandria. I did not 
reach Alexandria until September 1, being 
five days on the route. The rebels had just 
burned the bridge and torn up the track in 
front of us, so we had to wait for them to 
be built. Finally, we had to push the cars 



108 BRYANT GRAY, 

bj hand, and at last, General Banks, who 
guarded the train, ordered us to leave it 
and AYalk to Fairfax Station. We defended 
the train up to the last moment, and then 
burned it. Such a time as I had you can 
hardly imagine — hobbling along the track, 
sleeping on the wet grass, and subsisting on 
two cups of coffee and hard bread, and a 
small piece of pork daily, which I begged 
from the half-famished soldiers. At last I 
reached Fairfax Station, to which the trains 
run from Alexandria ; but here the crowds 
of wounded and sick soldiers from the great 
battle-field near by compelled me to walk 
some five miles more, and, after lying in a 
half-starved state for a day and night, I got 
on a train loaded with wounded, and reached 
Alexandria." 

Major Ulysses Doubleday, who knew Lieu- 
tenant Gray both in the line and on the 
staff, gives the following report of his char- 
acter and services, in a letter to his father : 

" Upon the formation of General Double- 
day's staff in March, 1862, he was appointed 



GENERAL POPE'S CAMPAIGN. 109 

Acting Aid-de-camp. His untiring and 
systematic industry gave the General such 
satisfaction that the appointment was soon 
made a permament one. His gentle and 
obliging disposition made him many friends 
in the command. He went with the brigade 
to Fredericksburg in May, and remained 
there until it marched early in August to 
join General Pope at Cedar Mountain. In 
July he was taken quite ill of a malarious 
fever, from which he had hardly recovered 
at the time the troops marched. He was 
very patient during this illness, although he 
suffered a great deal. The hardships he 
had to endure on the march to join General 
Pope, and afterward during the retreat of 
the army, were too much for him, and he 
resigned with a broken constitution." 

To his personal bravery and his of&cial 
fidelity during those memorable days, Gen- 
ecal Doubleday likewise bears this honor- 
able testimony, in a letter addressed to his 
father, after the death of Lieutenant Gray : 

" We all loved your son, and all felt 
10 



110 BRYANT GRAY. 

deeply grieved at his unexpected death. 
While he was with us on Pope's campaign, 
he always displayed the utmost alacrity in 
performing every duty that devolved upon 
him. He was very near me during the 
artillery battles on the Rappahannock, and 
I assure you my own position was any thing 
but a safe one. The excessive exposure, 
however, he endured on the march, the 
necessity of bivouacking in the mud and 
rain, the lack of food, and the irregular 
nature of our meals, all contributed to injure 
his constitution, and unfit him for active 
service in the field. Feeling that his bodily 
health was not such as to enable him to do 
justice to himself or to me in the important 
staff duties entrusted to him, he resigned 
his commission as Aid, and resumed his 
place as a line officer. I assure you I shall 
ever remember him as one of the pure and 
noble spirits who devoted their lives to the 
great interests of humanity on this con- 
tinent." 



XII. 

"DEDUCED again to comparative inac- 
-*-^ tivity in military affairs, and forbidden 
by his physical condition to engage in those 
extra official services which had been his 
delight, the Lieutenant now devoted much 
time to the culture of personal piety in 
himself, and also, by correspondence, in his 
friends at home. In the church with which 
he was still connected in Xew York, was an 
association of young men, styled the "Chris- 
tian Brotherhood," with which he corre- 
sponded freely upon religious subjects, espe- 
cially those of a practical and experimental 
character. In one of his letters to the 
Brotherhood, he thus describes the religious 

(111) 



112 BRYANT GRAY. 

disadvantages and advantages of a soldier^s 
life: 

" The great temptation here is, not to for- 
get the great principles of religion, but .to 
neglect to think continually of the Saviour, 
and to pray without ceasing. To be without 
a pastor gr a house of worship, and no 
chaplain with whom to sympathize* de- 
tracts much from one^s spiritual enjoyment. 
Yet, even the total lack of these sweet 
privileges, shared in so full a measure by 
the Brotherhood, has a salutary effect, for it 
leads me to Christ. In Him I find my pas- 
tor and my companion, and in my own 
heart a shrine and an altar, from which to 
send up my incense to the Most High. It 
may seem anomalous to say that the life of 
a soldier is at all calculated to foster relig- 
ious feeling, yet I truly believe it. The 
death of one comrade after another, and the 
apparent nearness of his own end, causes 
him to think solemn thoughts, and to lean 

•This was written when he was separated from his 
regiment, which had an excellent chaplain. 



ly CAMP AXD FORT. J 13 

upon the strong arm, which shall lead him 
to a peaceful home and eternal rest in 
heaven. It is thus with me, and I am a 
soldier. Accustomed now to the booming 
of cannon, the sharp rattle of musketry, and 
the harsh noise of war, vet mv heart is not 
hardened ; indeed, I thank God th-at it is 
as tender as before ; my aspirations and en- 
deavors to live the higher Christian life are 
as strong, and my hopes for the future 
glorious. 

" But I should do wrong if I did not 
acknowledge that I am still a great sin- 
ner. The longer I live the more I feel the 
need of pardon, and, at the same time, my 
total unworthiness of such infinite mercy. 
Yet, working and praying, struggling and 
believing, will, through grace, in each of 
our hearts, bring about the result which we 
so much desire ; and then all this suffering, 
mental and physical, this fighting, this sick- 
ening sight of blood, and all our many 
tribulations, will be but as a thing of the 
the past, and the reality will be a meeting 
10^ 



114 BRYANT GRAY. 

together, and an eternity, peaceful and se- 
rene in the presence of God." 

To the same body he writes again, Octo- 
ber, 1862 : 

"Although deprived here of many com- 
forts, especially the pleasant home fireside 
and church privileges, yet I feel thankful ; 
thankful that my life is spared ; thankful 
that I can serve my country, and thankful 
that God^s mercy is even for such a sinner 
as I. 

" We have prayer-meetings here. Last 
evening, in spite of the rain, we assembled 
in a large chapel-tent, and though the 
muddy ground was the only floor, the breth- 
ren knelt, and it was pleasant for us to be 
there. All our meetings are profitable, 
and yet under such circumstances of hard 
boards, muddy floors, and solitary candle, 
as might deter many city worshipers from 
coming. A work of grace, I believe, is 
going on in our regiment, and I am happy 
that it is. In my own heart m.any tares 
are being rooted out, and many good fruits 



IN CAMP AND FORT. 115 

of those heavenly virtues, Faith, Love, and 
Charity, being ripened ; yet, more than all, 
I am daily learning the depths of my sinful- 
ness, the t infinite breadth of God's mercy, 
and the nearness of death." 

How much he prized these meetings, and 
how greatly he contributed to their interest 
and usefulness, his regimental chaplain testi- 
fies in these emphatic terms : 

" I found him one upon whom I could 
rely as a man, and upon whom I could 
depend as a Christian. I never knew him 
to absent himself from the prayer-meeting 
or from the preaching of the Word, when 
in his power to attend. Indeed, he was 
one of my best supports in the work I had 
in hand. Some time before his death, cir- 
cumstances brought him and myself under 
one canvas, in the same quarter. There it 
was I learned the man more fully. I found 
that his mind was set upon the ministry ; he 
asked me often in relation to it. He said 
if he lived to get out of the army (which he 
did not wish to do until the rebellion was 



116 BRYANT GRAY. 

put down), he would make this his first busi- 
ness. 

" I found him, for a young man, having 
deep experience as to the things of God. 
He carried out into practical life what he 
professed — a man and a Christian at all 
times and in all places. '^ 

A letter to liis father, dated October 25, 
1862, shows how strong was his heart in 
the love of the Saviour : 

" Truly, my life seems like some strange 
romance, when I review it ; but Providence 
guides it, now as in the past, and I am sure 
that the education I am receiving will be 
of value to me, if — if I live. Will my relig- 
ion leave me ? That is the question ! for 
whether I live or die, it alone is the great 
comfort and consolation. Life in the army 
draws largely on one's moral strength, and 
one finds but few to talk with ; only the 
Saviour — he is enougli. But why should I 
speak of deserting my God ! my Redeemer ! 
He who takes all my sins upon himself. 
No ! whatever may assail, my God ! my 



IN CAMP ANT) FORT. 117 

God ! I love thee with all the fervor of my 
heart ! Do not you, too, my father V ♦ 

His Christian faith showed itself also in 
every new emergency of the war. Appre- 
hending with a quick sagacity the qualities 
of prominent Generals, and the causes of our 
repeated failures in aggressive movements, 
he says : 

" I have not for a moment doubted that 
God was with us. He has only been trying 
us ; and as we gradually root out our sins 
of slavery and General- worship, so fast does 
He give us success. 

" Oh, when will our countrymen look at 
national affairs in a broad, patriotic, relig- 
ious light? The same men who uphold 

General are bitter opponents of the 

emancipation policy ; and because I favor 
it, they call me a " black abolitionist,' etc. 
But I always will stand up for Right, Lib- 
erty, and Common Sense." 

Lieutenant Gray knew how to care for 
the comfort and pleasure of his men as well 
as for their spiritual welfare. On the 28th 
of November, 1862, he wrote : 



lia BRYANT GRAY. 

" Yesterday, 27th, was Thanksgiving Day 
here also ; and because I could not be at 
home, I got up a celebration for our com- 
pany. I sent to Washington, in connection 
with the Captain, got several gallons of oys- 
ters, made a stew, baked beans, beef, etc., 
and then spread a table for the boys in a 
large tent. They enjoyed it hugely. In 
the evening I got them together in the bar- 
racks, and there we had music, singing, and 
speeches ; made the Chaplain chairman of 
the meeting, and had addresses from him, 
the Captain, and some of the privates. Of 
course, I made a rousing speech ! and by my 
jokes (inlierited 'from you) I kept them in a 
roar of laughter. The meeting served to 
increase good feeling, and was an oasis in 
our desert life." 

Though there was no reporter present to 
reflect the spirit of this feast, its impression 
was pleasantly recalled a year later, in a 
letter to Bryant's father from Orderly Ser- 
geant Jonas McLean : 

" Pardon the liberty I have taken to ad- 



AV CAlfP jyD FORT. 119 

dress you, but I have been thinking all day 
of Lieutenant Gray. How changed are all 
things, from what they were last Thanks- 
giving ; he is in his grave, and I am at home. 
The evening before ^Thanksgiving, last year, 
he came to my tent and said he wished to 
treat the company to an oyster dinner, if they 
could all eat together, and wanted to know 
if I could manasre it so that thev could. I 
told him I would at all events, and bear ray 
proportion of the expense. Xo, he said, lie 
wished to pay the expense himself ; he had 
the money, and did not know how he could 
use it to a better advantage. I accordingly 
got the use of the Chaplain's tent, and got 
the tables ready for the wliole company. 
At the appointed time we all sat down, with 
the Chaplain and Lieutenant Gray at the 
head of the table ; and such a dinner, or a 
more happy set of men, never was seen in 
Fort Ethan Allen. The Lieutenant's face 
fairly shone with delight, as he looked over 
the tables, and saw how tlie boys were en- 
joying themselves and the day. 



120 BRYANT GRAY. 

" It is said that ' man is tte noblest work 
of God ;' that admitted, Lieutenant Gray was 
one of His master-pieces, for He has made 
but few like him." 



XIII. 



npHE natural feebleness of Lieutenant Gray's 
^ constitution, which from his childhood 
had been a source of anxiety to his friends, 
was in a measure counteracted by a certain 
elasticity of tone, derived in part from en- 
ergy of will, and in part from vigorous ex- 
ercise in the open air. Hence he sometimes 
deceived himself with regard to his physical 
condition, and attempted more than he was 
able to endure. As soon as he began to re- 
vive from the exti^eme and dangerous pros- 
tration induced by his service on General 
Doubleday's staff, liis friends were cheered 
by the hopeful tone of his letters. 

" I am now regularly on duty," he writes, 

11 (121) 



132 BBYANT GRAY. 

" although not yet well ; and here I find my- 
self this night writing to you in my tent, all 
still about me, expecting at 1 a. m. to go the 
grand-rounds, and visit the sentinels on the 
parapets in my capacity as officer of the 
day. 

"And this is happening on the 15th of 
September, my twenty- third birthday ! How 
different from the same event a year ago. 
But I feel proud of my position, and shall 
serve my country, if needs be, till my twenty- 
fourth birthday, if God preserves me so 
long." 

October 9, he says : " I find myself much 
better, and apparently in the enjoyment of 
good health. The rheumatism, piles, debil- 
ity, etc., liave left me, except weakness con- 
sequent upon the sickness. The weather is 
now so delightful, that it ought to make one 
feel well. I certainly look much better than 
I have for some time past, and am now sat- 
isfied that the war and campaign have not 
80 completely broken down my constitution, 
as I thought they had." 



THE LAST DA VS. 123 

''Octoher 27, 1862. 

" Just after finishing this letter, I succeeded 
in getting up nicely an extra tent, behind 
our other one. Although it was Sunday, I 
put up our little stove in it, for it was quite 
cold, and we felt comfortable ; but soon 
came a pouring rain, and a high wind, which 
during last night increased to a perfect hur- 
ricane. Alas, for our hopes of comfort ! 
About midnight the storm and wind blew 
down our stove-pipe, and then down came 
the tent itself, leaving us much exposed to 
the rain. Such a gale I have seldom seen, 
but this afternoon it abated, and we put up 
the tent again, and I now sit by the stove 
in it, writing you. I simply mention this to 
show you that my life is not entirely filled 
up with the pleasures of drilling, and visit- 
ing the sentinels after the hour of night.^' 

To his father, November 11, 1862 : 
" In fact, for a soldier, I am now quite 
comfortable. My tent is banked up on the 
sides to keep out the cold ; my little cast- 
iron stove burns nicely ; my bed, with pretty 



124 BRYANT GRAY. 

quilt from mother, looks neatly. The whole 
presents quite a distinguished appearance ; 
and as I sit writing you now, on a camp- 
chair, the port-folio on my lap, ink-bottle on 
trunk, and candle on a box, I do not mind 
the disagreeable flapping of my tent in the 
wind, or the bugle, which sounds the hour 
of nine, for my thoughts are with you at 
home. I am just now thinking how glad I 
felt that in your letter you said that my last 
words to you on religious subjects caused 
tears of sympathy to flow, and made you 
thankful, that I still (even though feebly) 
hold to my religion. God grant that your 
tears may flow not at my poor expressions, 
but at the remembrance of the Saviour's 
sufferings for such sinners, as you and I know 

ourselves to be 

" Two persons who are traveling home to 
God certainly should not fear to express 
their mutual sympathies and hopes. I^ow, 
especially in this time, when the great shock 
of war and politics snaps asunder the bonds 
of friendship and love, docs it behoove us to 



THE LAST DAYS. 125 

strengthen them by all the means in our 

power." 

^^Novemler 28, 1862. 

" I also heartily thank you for your ex- 
pressions of satisfaction at my principles, 
and because you ask me to pray for our 
country, and, of course, for you. I wish 
prayers would save us. Alas ! we have too 
many traitors and too much incompetency 
to hope for an answer to prayer, until we 
root out evil. But now I believe the day 
has dawned, and with it, and with the speedy 
close of the war, I hope to return to you." 

The following, to his father, is of touching 
interest, as an exhibition of the generosity 
of his nature, of his cheerfulness in his work, 
and of hopes of health and success destined 
so soon to be prostrated : 

" Chain Bridge, December 18, 1862. 
" I have recently had two notes from you, 
the last dated 15th inst., mostly relative to 
a certain box, which you and Mary propose 
to send me. I am on the look out for it, 
and shall, of course, do full justice to its con- 
11-^ 



126 BRYANT GRAY. 

tents. What can Mary's kindness be pre- 
paring for rae? Thinking now of Christ- 
mas reminds me to say, that I wish you 
would please honor any drafts Mary may 
make upon you in my name. I have directed 
her to make certain presents and donations, 
and told her to ask you for the amount 
needed, to be taken from my funds. 

. . . . " Indeed, when I stop up the 
cracks in the floor and sides, which I am 
now doing, and shingle my roof, so that it 
won't wet me all over when it rains, I will 
have a perfect palace — that is, for a soldier. 
At present I have to go to the sutler for my 
meals, and I assure you the steep hill I have 
to climb to get there, adds wonderfully to 
my appetite. The part of the company 
which will be under my especial charge at 
this end of the bridge, still remains in the 
barracks at the fort, because their tents have 
not yet been fully pitched. To-morrow they 
will probably come down. Our camp is 
right on the rocky bank of the river, and is 
a forsaken ruined spot, although quite pic- 



THE LAST DATS. 127 

turesque. My position makes me well known 
to the regiments hereabouts, and to the citi- 
zens, and is considered honorable and re- 
sponsible. I am still in good health, and 
have good prospect of remaining so. My 
constant life in the open air, climbing of 
hills, and manual labor is the cause. But I 
tell you I have suffered greatly from the cold 
this winter in my tent, and even now, the 
water in my room freezes solid nearly every 
night. Our men are suffering much from 
lack of pay, now nearly six month's. There 
seems to be no hopes of it before next year. 
What is the matter ? Is the Government 
broke?" 

The following hurried note to his father 
was the last he penned. It tells its own 
story : 

" Seminary Hospital, Georgetown, D. C, 

December 28, 1862. 

" It pains me to inform you that the 

reason why I have not written to you for 

some days past, is a rather sudden and 

severe attack of pneumonia. On the 23d 



128 BRYANT GBAY. 

inst. I was well and happy as you please, 
but on the afternoon of that day was de- 
tailed to make a survey of the roads and 
houses between the Chain Bridge and 
Drainsville. I slept badly all that night 
and on getting up in the morning, found 
that I had a racking pain in my right 
breast. 

"During the whole of the 24th, I was 
the same way, although on the 25th the 
pain was somewhat alleviated. I had 
called the doctor in, but he could not tell 
what the matter was, and advised me to go 
to this hospital for better treatment and 
more comfortable quarters than the regi- 
ment afforded. I did not, however, leave 
until Saturday the 27th, and after an excru- 
ciating ride, reached here toward evening. 
I found myself at once in good quarters, 
had good attentions, and the best medical 
skill ; but I have not yet gained any — per- 
haps it is too soon to look for any marked 
improvement.'' 

At first, however, no one thought him 



THE LAST DAYS. 129 

seriously ill. His Captain says, concerning 

his health : 

" I think he has never been really well 

since his campaign with General Doubleday. 

He was apparently very much reduced on 

his return, and was quite sick for some 

time. He thought he had fully recovered ; 

but I think his constitution was broken 

down in that campaign. He spent the 

mornino: before he was taken sick with me. 

... • 

My wife is in camp with me ; we have our 

tents apart from the others. He staid until 
nearly 10 o'clock, and appeared as well as 
usual. When he left, he said he liked to 
visit us, as it looked like home, and we 
were always pleased to have him call." 

On the last day of December, his father, 
advised by a telegram of the Lieutenant's 
dangerous illness, hastened to Washington, 
and reached the hospital at daybreak on 
the morning of the 1st of January, 1863. 
As he entered the ward where the Lieuten- 
ant was lying, the soldier, who for days had 
been wandering in mind, suddenly came to 



130 BRYANT GRAY. 

himself and exclaimed, " Now, there is some 
one here that I know ! That is my father. 
I feel better !" Beautiful and blessed sym- 
bol of the recognition of his Father in 
heaven, and the joy of that knowing so soon 
to follow. 

Chaplain Philips, of the Ninth New York 
Volunteers, who was kneeling at his bed- 
side, asked him if he should pray especially 
for any thing. He answered, " Pray that 
this great distress in my left side may be 
removed ; but if that cannot be, pray that 
I may have strength to endure it." Imme- 
diately he relapsed into unconsciousness, his 
bewildered brain all intent upon the imagi- 
nary performance of his military duties. 
Springing up in his bed with a preternat- 
ural strength, he would command his 
orderly sergeant, in a voice so loud as to be 
heard in all parts of the building, telling 
him to keep his pickets well out, as this was 
the first and most important duty of an 
officer. Once, when his father attempted to 
hold him back, there came another flash of 



Tim LAST DAYS. 131 

recognition, and he said, " You cannot con- 
trol me now, father. I am a soldier ; I 
belong to my country." 

Presently there came a lull, and hig 
father sat quietly moistening his lips with a 
sponge. The soldier, as in a dream, was 
again a little boy standing by the bedside 
of his dying mother, moistening her lips, as 
life ebbed away. Witli a look of inexpress- 
ible pathos, he said, *' Old memories will 
come back ; won't they, father !" Then, 
springing up again in bed, with a firm 
voice, he ordered his men through all the 
evolutions of the drill, and with the com- 
mand, ^^Forivard ! march .'" he sank back 
into his last sleep. 

A year before, he had stood " a solitary 
sentinel on the mountains of the Guadalupe," 
watching for the dawn ; again, he had kept 
his night-watch for the New Year, a faithful 
sentinel) standing before the gate, until its 
golden hinges turned for him. 

" Lo, there !— on guard — his rank already won, 
Shining he stands, with his new armor on." 



XIV. 



t 



ON Sabbatli, the 4th of January, 1863, the 
remains of Lieutenant Gray were borne 
to Greenwood Cemetery, attended by a 
large concourse of mourners. Appropriate 
funeral services were conducted by the 
Bev. Alfred Cookman, of whose church he 
was a member, and by the Rev. J. P. 
Thompson, the pastor of his father's family. 
His monument bears the fitting inscription 
from one of his own letters : 

"K d0 ttat feat: tite \nitiU4kU^ icx ^ laok 
l)cijottd it tcr i\u Mi^\xi^ at fiaven/' 

Is it not among those delights that three 
from, his dear earthly home have come for- 

(132) 



LAST TRIBUTES. IgfS 

ward, since his death, to confess before men 
the Saviour whom he served ? 

His brief military career has left an in- 
effaceable record upon the officers and the 
men of his regiment. The testimony of 
General Doubleday to his competence and 
fidelity as a staff officer, is given on a pre- 
ceding page. The following from Major 
Doubleday, gives additional testimony to 
his character as an officer of the line : 

"On our arrival at Fort Carroll, near 
Washington, I soon had my attention drawn 
to his strict and intelligent devotion to 
his duty, and regard for the health and 
comfort of the men. At my request he 
made any suggestions that he thought right, 
and I invariably found them so. 

" We were much togetlier during the whole 
term of his service. I had often occasion 
to admire the reliability he showed on all 
occasions of duty. If he was sent by the 
General to direct a regiment to a particular 
position, we always knew that he would do 
it, though he went without sleep or food. 
12 



184 BRYANT GRAY. 

" A week before his death, I sent him with 
a party of men up the Leesburg turnpike to 
get the names of those living near it, and the 
distances between the houses. This was a 
kind of work he excelled in, and he went 
at it with zeal. Towards 4 o'clock, being 
very warm, he sat down on the ground to 
make some notes in his field-book, and was 
remonstrated with by one of the men for 
doing so, but persisted. The next day, Lieu- 
tenant Jones reported to me for duty, in his 
place, informing me that Gray had taken" 
cold. 

" I went down to the bridge in the after- 
noon, and called from my horse to him, ask- 
ing how he was. The answer was, he did 
not feel very well just then — he, like every 
body else, looking on his illness as a trifling 
one, a simple cold. Captain Ingalls asked 
my consent for him to be sent to George- 
town a couple of days after. I supposed 
he would go to the same place he did in 
September, and willingly consented. I in- 
quired a day or two after about him, and 



LAST TRIBUTES. 135 

could learn nothing. I still never dreamed 
of his being seriously sick, and determined 
to call on him, when I next went to town. 
The next news I had was that he was dead. 

" I can scarcely realize that I shall never 
again see him in this world, but I know that 
he has won admission to a better one. The 
temptations and debasing vices unhappily 
so prevalent in camp had no effect on him. 
No one ever heard impure language or oaths 
issue from his lips ; none knew him to 
neglect his duty. No soldier need ask for 
higher praise." 

To this testimony to his worth as an 
officer, may be added the Chaplain's testi- 
mony to his character and his services as a 
Christian : 

" There was no officer in our regiment 
more beloved than Lieutenant Gray ; all the 
officers entertained for him the best of feel- 
ings, and the men of his own company 
thought no one like him. Of these things 
I am assured. No one in the regiment, 
perhaps, had a better opportunity than my- 



130 BRYANT GRAY. 

self to learn these things. So far as my 
own feelings and affections are concerned, I 
feel that not only has the regiment been 
deprived of one of its brightest ornaments 
and best officers, but that the cause of 
morality and religion have suffered a great 
loss in his removal from among us. But 
' our loss is his gain.' Lieutenant Gray 
was always in his place, in the public con- 
gregation and the social meeting, active, 
not only to live out, but to talk out on the 
great matter of man's best interest. 

" As an officer he was strict in discipline, 
yet always imposed it in such a way as to 
give his men to understand that it was his 
duty to give orders, and theirs to obey. His 
company loved him as a man, and regarded 
him very much as an officer. He was re- 
spected by all the officers of his command, 
as well as by every soldier." 

This testimony of brother officers is fully 
confirmed by those who were under his com- 
mand. Sergeant McLean, whose long ex- 
perience as a seaman before entering the 



LAST TRIBUTES. 137 

army, had taught him how to discriminate 
character, states that, at the first, Lieuten- 
ant Gray was generally disliked in his com- 
pany, because of the strictness of his disci- 
pline. But he soon overcame the prejudices 
of the men, and won by degrees their warm 
and lasting friendship. This the Sergeant 
ascribes to his military capacity, his personal 
courage, and his Christian kindness. As 
illustrative of the Lieutenant's character, 
McLean states that the regiment was threat- 
ened in passing through Baltimore ; Gray, 
who commanded the rear, ordered three 
groans to be given in the depot, and then 
took his place with the men, instead of 
going into the officer's car, saying, " If there 
is to be trouble, I want to be near by." 

" We were sent out together on one of 
the worst nights that ever I saw. I have 
been a sailor for twenty years, and I think I 
never experienced a worse night than the one 
I mention. It became my duty to visit and 
hail the guards, to see that each one was on 
his post, as it was considered that there was 



138 BRYANT GRAY. 

some danger. The night was very dark 
and very stormy. I came to a certain post, 
and not being able to discern the guard, I 
hailed ; when who should answer but Lieu- 
tenant Gray. I asked him why he was there, 
carrying a musket and standing guard. He 
said the guard on that post was almost per- 
ished, and he had sent him to his tent, and 
was standing his guard. I immediately 
ordered out another guard to take his place 
and asked him not to expose himself so 
much ; ' Well,' he said, ' I am warmly dressed 
and many of the soldiers are not.' The 
next time I came around I found him lying 
on the outside of the tent rolled up in his 
blanket, and with that exception entirely 
exposed to the storm ; his excuse then was 
he did not want to crowd the men, but that 
night's duty overcame his naturally frail 
constitution. 

" He never shirked his duty as long as 
he had strength to get out of his tent. At 
the time I returned from recruiting, there 
was a fever prevailing which the men thought 



LAST TRIBUTES. 139 

was contagious. I was called up at mid- 
night to see a sick boy. The Lieutenant 
heard our conversation, and came out and 
went with me to see the man. We found 
him very sick and helpless, and entirely 
forsaken. The Lieutenant said, ' Stay with, 
him, and I will go and order an ambu- 
lance to take him to the hospital. He did 
so, and he and myself were the only ones 
to. get that sick man out of his tent and into 
the ambulance, and for fear he would not 
be well attended to, he went with him ; but 
the poor fellow's time had come — he died 
the next day. 

" It frequently happened that men were 
discharged from the hospital and reported 
for duty, when they were not able to do 
duty. The only remedy I had was to apply 
to Lieutenant Gray, and he would get them 
cleared. Many times it happened that a 
poor fellow was out of money, and wanted 
something for his comfort — for our pay-days 
were, like angels' visits, few and far between 
— but his hand was always open to charity, 



140 BRYANT GRAY. 

and it was closed only in the strong grasp 
of death." 

The nobleness of Gray's character was 
sometimes strikingly exhibited in little 
things, where so many betray the meanness 
they conceal from public view. Upon 
relinquishing his position on the staff of 
General Doubleday, he received from a 
brother officer a handsome offer for his horse. 
" I should not have allowed you/' he an- 
swered, " to purchase my horse, for I would 
not have recommended him. In an action 
in which we were shelled severely, he acted 
quite courageously, but afterward, in the 
battle of Manassas, he loas a coward ! So 
he would not have suited you." 

He who could not brook cowardice in a 
dumb brute, himself shrank from no danger, 
but, as one said of him, was ever devoted 
" to his God, his country, his men and his 
duty." 

The Rev. Alfred Cookman, who was 
young Gray's pastor at the time when he 
entered the army, bears testimony to his re- 



LAST TRIBUTES. 141 

ligious experience in the following affec- 
tionate and beautiful tribute : 
" Rev. J. R Thompson, D, D. : 

" My Dear Brother — I am happy to re- 
sjwnd to 3^our wish, and furnish a pastor's 
brief memorial of the charming virtues and 
devoted piety of our young friend, Bryant 
Gray. 

" Entering upon the pastorate of the Cen- 
tral or Seventh Avenue M. E. Church in 
the spring of 1861, I soon formed the ac- 
quaintance of this interesting young man. 
Almost immediately I was impressed with 
the guilelessness of his spirit, the beautiful 
modesty of his manners, the noble impulses 
of his nature, the unusual sprightliness of 
his mind, and especially his interest and 
earnestness on the all-important matters of 
personal piety and Christi<an usefulness. 
During the few months we were associated, 
he was absent from scarcely a single means 
of grace. In our Sabbath services he was 
a most attentive hearer, literally drinking 
in the Word, while in our devotional meet- 



143 BRYANT GRAY. 

ings lie was devout and earnest. When he 
ventured to exercise publicly, either in the 
form of testimony or vocal prayer, it was 
always with undisguised timidity, but at the 
same time with an intelligence, sincerity, 
and earnestness, that invariably made such 
exercises interesting and profitable. 

" In his connection with the ' Christian 
Brotherhood ^ (a most valuable organization 
of young men in the Central M. E. Church) 
he was faithful and efficient. No matter 
what duty was assigned him, he undertook 
it cheerfully, and executed it energetically 
and well. 

" Our beloved friend was, as your volume 
will show, not only a more than ordinary 
.young man, but a more than ordinary Chris- 
tian. Not satisfied w4th an irregular or 
spasmodic religious experience, he had strong 
aspirations for the " Higher Life" — the life 
of faith on the Son of God. Some of our 
most protracted and edifying conversations 
were respecting the extent of personal privi- 
leges in the gospel. He believed in a full 



LAST TRIBUTES. 143 

salvation, and was concerned to accept and 
trust in Christ as a perfect Saviour. I have 
reason to believe that his consecration was 
specific and thorough, and that in an exer- 
cise of faith he was looking to Christ for 
that conscious purity which the soul may 
realize when the blessed Holy Spirit, mo- 
ment by moment, applies the all-atoning 
blood to cleanse and keep us clean. This 
experience will explain the completeness of 
his Christian character, the vigor of his re- 
ligious life, and the hallowed nature of his 
personal influence and usefulness. 

" It will involve no violation of confidence 
or propriety to say, that at that time he was 
seriously exercised on the subject of the 
ministry of the Word. A retired parish, a 
cherished flock, the privilege of cultivating 
Emmanuel's land and calling sinners to 
Christ, these were the culmination of his 
earthly ambition. But in the midst of these 
day-dreams he heard the tocsin of war ! 
His imperilled nation was calling for help ! 
Himself physically slender and feeble, and 



144 BUT ANT GRAY, 

SO incapacitated for the exposures of a mili- 
tary campaign, his great soul nevertheless 
promptly responded, and to myself he heroi- 
cally said, ' I will go I I have but one life 
to offer, but oh, how cheerfully will I sacri- 
fice that on the altar of my country's cause V 
He went, and, as his subsequent career well 
shows, God went with him. Oh, what an 
inspiration for a young man starting out in 
life, to feel that the infinite and eternal God 
is in him, and with Mm, and for him I This 
sentiment is so abundantly illustrated in 
your memoir of young Gray, that I need 
not add a word respecting his heroism, 
fidelity, and usefulness as a Christian sol- 
dier. 

" I trust that his fellow students of the 
Free Academy, his large circle of youthful 
acquaintances, and especially his brother 
soldiers of our noble army, will be influenced 
by his beautiful example. Did religion en- 
large his views, purify his heart, restrain 
his life, promote his pleasures, hallow his 
influence and ennoble his whole nature ? 



LAST TRIBUTES. 145 

Bid it coustitute him a good 8on, a devoted 
brother, a conscientious patriot, a brave sol- 
dier, a trustworthy friend, and an humble 
and earnest Christian ? Did it make his 
brief life blessed, and liis early death glo- 
rious and useful — ' for he being dead, yet 
speaketh ?' Did religion do all this for our 
young friend ? Then certainly it is wortliy 
of our immediate and hearty acceptance. 
Oh, let us conclude and covenant to be like 
him, * a good soldier of Jesus Christ,^ so 
that vi^hen the battle of life is over, we may 
hail our departed brother, 

' Where we shall hear of war no more, 
But ever with our Leader rest, 
Un Canaan's peaceful shore.' 

Thank God, the grave of our friend is not 
tfie grave of our friendship ! 

" Yours, in gospel bonds, 

"ALFRED COOKMAN. 
" New York, Septeniber 20, 1864." 
13 



146 BRYANT GRAY. 

The poet who crowned his birth with a 
gift, and his military enlistment with a hymn 
of consecration, sent this chaplet for our 
Bryant's tomb : 

" New York, January 24, 1863. 

" My Dear Sir — It was my intention to 
have written you a letter expressing my 
sorrow for the death of your son, and I can 
liardly tell why I have postponed it till now. 
It seemed but the other day that you in- 
formed me of his birth, and now, although 
he came into the world when I was past the 
period of middle life, he is in his grave 
before me. I had taken much interest in 
watching his progress through life, to its 
sad but most honorable close. To you, the 
cup of affliction which has been presented in 
this dispensation must have been exceedingly 
bitter. It is sweetened, however, by the 
reflection that he was prepared for the world 
upon which he has entered, by a pure, vir- 
tuous, and religious life, and that he died in 
the service of his country. His brief life 
has not been in vain upon the earth, and 



LAST TRIBUTES. 147 

having fulfilled, acceptably, we trust, the 
task assigned him, ho goes to his reward, 
like one called from his labor in the fields 
to an entertainment in the hall of his em- 
ployer, before he has endured the ' burden 
and heat of the day.' 

" I am, dear sir, faithfully yours, 
" Wm. Gkay, Esq. WM. C. BRYANT." 

Another life-long friend of his father. Dr. 
Thomas Ward, a gentleman well known for 
his philanthropy and his literary culture, 
ofi'ered his tribute to the memory of the 
brave young soldier in these worthy lines : 

Oh, he was manly, though of age so tender ! 

Stem in his duty, gentle in his love : 
No foe to truth could bend him to surrender. 

No friend a waver of his faith could prove. 

"Why should he wither by ignoble fever ? 

AVho drank so oft the battle's fiery breath : 
Had war no shaft in his remorseless quiver 

To speed his parting with a soldier's death ? 

Yet should his name as honored prove in story 
As though he sank beneath contending steel — 



148 



BRYANT OR AT. 



Who fell a martyr to his country's glory, 
And shed for her the life-blood of his zeal 

Why in his spring-time must his flower be blasted ? 

Bright with the bloom that promised fruit of 
gold : 
Unreaped his harvest, and his sowing wasted — 

Stopped iu mid-onset — like a steed controlled. 

Brave, Christian Knight ! still for the right con- 
tending ; 
Whose spurs were won even in his youthful 
prime — 
Peace, aching heart ! — 't is uo untimely ending 
Where fruit with flower is borae at blossoiii- 
time. 



THE la^D. 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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